The Los Angeles Dodgers celebrate their win against the New York Yankees in Game 5 to win the baseball World Series Wednesday in New York.
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The Dodgers on tonight left no doubt they are the best team in baseball, beating the Yankees in Game 5 to win the World Series.
The Ohtani effect: One of the big reasons, if not the biggest reason, why the Dodgers made the playoffs and an eventual World Series win: Shohei Ohtani. His magical season of 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases sparked the Dodgers offense and led to numerous wins.
The backstory: The road to the playoffs wasn't easy by any stretch. The injury bug bit the Dodgers throughout the season, decimating the starting pitching rotation.
What's next: A parade of course! More details on that event are expected to be released soon and we'll follow up with everything you need to know.
How does it feel L.A.?! The Dodgers are world champions after beating the Yankees Wednesday 7-6 in Game 5!
After dropping Game 4 to the Yankees and falling behind in Game 5, Dodger fans began to think the series was heading back to L.A.
But instead... the Dodgers became the "Comeback Kids." Actually they had to do it twice. The inning where they took the lead — the eighth inning when a sacrifice fly by Mookie Betts brought home Tommy Edman and the Dodgers went up 7-6 and never looked back. Strong late inning pitching by Blake Treinen and Walker Buehler sealed the deal and the Boys in Blue became world champs!
"Who wants a parade?!" Dave Roberts, the Dodgers' manager, said at the after game ceremony.
In short order, L.A. came through with the requisite fireworks after the last out was had and the Dodgers clinched the series.
L.A. celebration is Friday
In a post on X, the Dodgers said a parade was in store in downtown L.A. on Friday, with more details to come.
Freddie Freeman, who game after game came through with home runs to propel the Dodgers' momentum, was named MVP of the series.
Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman celebrates their World Series win against the New York Yankees.
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"From day one you could just tell this group was close... It's a puzzle," Freeman said after the win. "We seemed to hit every speed bump along the course of this year. We just kept riding over that speed bump."
Key inning of Game 5
The key inning was the fifth when the Dodgers took advantage of two Yankees errors and scored five runs behind a Mookie Betts single, a Freddie Freeman single, and a Teoscar Hernandez double to tie everything up.
How we got here
Shohei Ohtani #17 celebrates with teammates in the clubhouse after the Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees to win the 2024 World Series.
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After 162 games, with hard fought victories over the Padres and the Mets in the National League Division Series and the National League Championship Series, respectively, the Dodgers left no doubt they are the best team in baseball.
One of the big reasons, if not the biggest reason, why the Dodgers made the playoffs and an eventual World Series win: Shohei Ohtani. Let's face it. When you have the best baseball player on the planet and perhaps the greatest baseball player of all-time, you're going to be in the conversation no matter what. His magical season of 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases sparked the Dodgers offense and led to numerous wins.
When you have Shohei in your lineup, you are already steps ahead of everyone else.
And oh yeah — this team also has Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman (aka Mr. October), Teoscar Hernandez, Tommy Edman and Kike Hernandez. All of these players came up big during the regular season and the playoffs.
But the road to the playoffs wasn't easy by any stretch. The injury bug bit the Dodgers throughout the season, decimating the starting pitching rotation. Can you imagine if Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw and Gavin Stone were healthy and were part of the playoff rotation? During the season, Tyler Glasnow and Gavin Stone were solid. Together, they combined for 20 wins on the mound. Kershaw didn't play much as he spent the first half of the season on the injured list, recovering from shoulder surgery. He finished with a 2-2 record and ended up on the injured list again after hurting his toe.
Starting pitching was the difference
But the Dodgers turned what was seen as a weakness into a strength. Their starting pitching in the playoffs was stellar. Jack Flaherty, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler were dominant, shutting down the Yankees offense. Aaron Judge just plain struggled for the Yankees. Strong pitching in the playoffs and especially the World Series is key. Without it, you just can't win.
The Dodger legacy
The World Series champions
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Robert Gauthier
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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This is the Dodgers' eighth world championship — having won titles in 2024, 2020, 1988, 1981, 1965, 1963, 1959, and 1955. They are now tied for fifth on the all-time World Series titles list with the San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers have appeared in 21 World Series, 12 of those since moving to Los Angeles in 1958.
While some non-Dodgers fans out there have claimed the 2020 title was not legitimate because it happened during a shortened-COVID 19 season — there is no doubt the Dodgers jumped through all of the hoops necessary to win this season's title. No asterisks needed here.
The Dodgers have won 25 National League pennants — 13 in Los Angeles and 12 in Brooklyn. You want legacy? Try this: the Dodgers are currently in a stretch dating back to 2013 where the Boys in Blue have won two World Series titles, four National League pennants, made 12 post-season appearances, and captured 11 National League West titles.
You want more legacy? How about a number of firsts? The most significant first — Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier in 1947 by becoming the first Black player in Major League Baseball's modern era. The Dodgers were the first team on the West Coast to win the World Series in 1959. And, a cool first — the first team to have numbers on the front of their uniforms in 1952.
Kevin Tidmarsh
is a producer for LAist, covering news and culture. He’s been an audio/web journalist for about a decade.
Published January 1, 2026 6:21 PM
Conditions along the Santa Ana River can become dangerous during heavy rains.
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An unidentified body was recovered from the bed of the Santa Ana River just before noon on Jan. 1, according to the Orange County Fire Authority.
What we know: Officials said a witness called 911 to report a person in the riverbed near the intersection of Warner Avenue and Harbor Boulevard in Santa Ana. The person traveled about two miles downstream before the search and rescue crew recovered their body in the city of Fountain Valley.
The response: About 60 firefighters from OCFA and the Fountain Valley and Costa Mesa fire departments contributed to the water rescue effort.
The danger of moving water: With more rain in the forecast this weekend, keep in mind that just six inches of fast-moving water can knock down most people, while 12 inches can carry away most cars.
How to stay safe: Emergency officials recommend limiting travel as much as possible during heavy rain and floods, including by car. If you see flooding in your path, remember the slogan, “Turn around, don’t drown.” LAist also has a guide on driving safely in the rain.
Manny Ruiz strikes alongside other workers with Teamsters 2785 at Amazon Warehouse DCK6 in the Bayview District in San Francisco on Dec. 19, 2024. Amazon workers at multiple facilities across the U.S. went on strike to fight for a union contract.
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Under a law taking effect Jan. 1, California seeks to uphold the labor and unionization rights of private-sector employees, as the federal agency that has held that power for decades is in limbo.
Where things stand: The new law’s future is unclear because the Trump administration is challenging it.
Why now: The law, which grants more powers to the California Public Employment Relations Board, is a response to the National Labor Relations Board lacking a quorum. President Donald Trump fired the NLRB’s chairperson, Gwynne Wilcox, days after he began his second term in January. His two nominees to the board have yet to be confirmed, so the federal board has been without the three members it needs for a quorum for months.
California under a law taking effect today seeks to uphold the labor and unionization rights of private-sector employees, as the federal agency that has held that power for decades is in limbo.
But the new law’s future is unclear because the Trump administration is challenging it.
The law, which grants more powers to the California Public Employment Relations Board, is a response to the National Labor Relations Board lacking a quorum.
President Donald Trump fired the NLRB’s chairperson, Gwynne Wilcox, days after he began his second term in January. His two nominees to the board have yet to be confirmed, so the federal board has been without the three members it needs for a quorum for months.
Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, the Inglewood Democrat who wrote the bill, said when the governor signed it in September that “California will not sit idly as its workers are systematically denied the right to organize due to employer intransigence or federal inaction.”
The NLRB sued California over the law in October, saying in its lawsuit that the state is trying to assert authority over “areas explicitly reserved for federal oversight.”
On the legal challenge to the law, Terry Schanz, McKinnor’s chief of staff, referred CalMatters to the state attorney general. Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office is responsible for defending the law in court. A spokesperson for Bonta said the office would have nothing to say about it.
With the NLRB unable to fulfill its duties, states are trying to fill the gap in enforcing the National Labor Relations Act, which Congress passed in 1935. But labor experts contacted by CalMatters do not have high hopes for the California law, which is similar to a law passed in New York this year. They said courts, including the Supreme Court, have ruled that states cannot decide matters pertaining to federal labor law because of preemption, the doctrine that a higher authority of law overrides a lower authority.
“It’s difficult to imagine a scenario where the courts do not overturn these (state) laws,” said John Logan, professor and chairperson of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University.
William Gould, a former chairperson of the National Labor Relations Board during the Clinton administration and a professor emeritus at Stanford University, agreed: “In the courts the matter is a dead letter unless (the Supreme Court) shifts gears.”
That’s what the California and U.S. chambers of commerce, along with other business groups, are hoping, according to their amicus brief in support of the Trump administration’s lawsuit against California: “Under California’s view, every state could have its own labor law for private-sector workers. Dozens of laws would overlap and collide.”
The California Labor Federation, an umbrella organization for unions that represents about 2 million California workers, said in an amicus brief that even before Trump fired the NLRB chief, the federal agency’s backlog had been a problem, leading to companies being able to delay bargaining in good faith with their employees’ unions without consequences.
If the California law is overturned, employees who have formed unions but have not succeeded in securing contracts with employers such as Amazon and Starbucks — which are among the companies seeking to have the NLRB declared unconstitutional — may continue to face delays, according to Logan. Or, he said, it’s not clear what would happen if other workers tried to organize and their companies simply fired them.
“The NLRB defunctness is a scandal which cries out for political reform,” Gould said.
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Why now: As the clock struck midnight across time zones, people gathered to celebrate the new year.
Keep reading... for those photos.
As the clock strikes midnight across time zones, people gather to celebrate the new year.
We take a look at the shared joy and traditions in these photos.
Copyright 2026 NPR
Reveler use their smartphones to film the falling balloons and confetti as they celebrate the start of 2026 during the New Year countdown event held at a shopping mall in Beijing, early Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026.
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Revellers watch a fireworks and light show for children on Museumplein as part of New Year's Eve celebrations in Amsterdam on December 31, 2025.
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Members of the public gather to celebrate the New Year during the annual bell-tolling ceremony at the Bosingak Pavilion on January 01, 2026 in Seoul, South Korea.
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Fireworks explode over skyscrapers during New Year celebrations on January 01, 2026 in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines.
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People buy batons that read happy New Year 2026 on December 31, 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand. Thousands lined the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok as the country welcomed the new year.
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Fireworks explode from the Taipei 101 building during the New Year's celebrations in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026.
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Revellers watch the New Year's Eve fireworks from the The Huc Bridge at Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi on Jan. 1, 2026.
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People attend the New Year countdown event to celebrate the start of 2026 in the Central district of Hong Kong, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025.
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Fireworks explode around the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, during New Year's Eve celebrations in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026.
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People pose for pictures near illuminated decorations on New Year's Eve in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025.
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Revellers watch fireworks during the New Year celebrations in Karachi on January 1, 2026.
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Iraqis gather in Baghdad's Al-Zawraa Park during New Year's Eve celebrations on December 31, 2025.
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Onlookers stand beside light ornaments on New Year's Eve at Bakrkoy Square in Istanbul on Dec. 31, 2025.
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People strike a giant bell to celebrate the New Year at the Zojoji Buddhist temple, minutes after midnight Thursday Jan. 1, 2026, in Tokyo.
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A couple takes a selfie as the last sunset of 2025 is seen over the Mediterranean Sea in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025.
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People watch and take photos as the Ferris wheel displays "Happy New Year" in 16 different languages at Pacific Park on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025 in Santa Monica.
Millions of Americans are facing higher health care premiums in the new year after Congress allowed Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire.
Where things stand: Earlier this week, a bipartisan group of senators worked to strike a compromise that could resurrect the enhanced ACA premium tax credits — potentially blunting the blow of rising monthly payments for Obamacare enrollees.
What's next: Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., who is part of that effort, says he thinks the Senate can pass a "retroactive" Affordable Care Act subsidy extension, but "we need President Trump."
Millions of Americans are facing higher health care premiums in the new year after Congress allowed Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire. But earlier this week, a bipartisan group of senators worked to strike a compromise that could resurrect the enhanced ACA premium tax credits — potentially blunting the blow of rising monthly payments for Obamacare enrollees.
"There's a number of Republican and Democratic senators who are seeing what a disaster this will be for families that they represent," Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said on Morning Edition Thursday. "That's the common ground here, and it's a doable thing."
Welch said he joined a bipartisan call Tuesday — first reported by Punchbowl News — in which a handful of senators charted out a possible health care compromise.
"We could extend the credits for a couple of years, we could reform it," Welch said of the call. "You could put an income cap, you could have a copay, you could have penalties on insurers who commit fraud. You actually could introduce some cost saving reductions that have bipartisan support."
But according to Welch, this legislation is only doable with President Trump's blessing.
"It would require that President Trump play a major role in this, because he has such influence over the Republican majority in the House and even in the Senate," Welch said.
Last fall, Republicans and Democrats fought bitterly over the Obamacare subsidy extension, causing a political standoff that led to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Meanwhile, Trump has remained relatively hands-off, withholding his support for any health care legislation.
Despite these obstacles, Welch said he believes the jump in prices that people across the country now face will break the logjam in Congress.
"A farmer in Vermont, their premium is going to go from $900 a month to $3,200, a month," Welch said. "So they're going to really face sticker shock. There's going to be a secondary impact, because the hospitals, particularly in rural areas, are going to lose revenue."
But even if the Senate advanced a compromise bill on the ACA, the House would also have to get behind it. And the lower chamber has its own bipartisan effort on an ACA subsidy extension.
Just before the recess began in mid-December, four House Republicans joined Democrats in signing a discharge petition on a three-year extension of the ACA subsidies — forcing a floor vote on the bill when the House returns.
Hours after bucking House Speaker Mike Johnson and joining Democrats, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., told Morning Editionback in December that he thinks this vote will get even more Republican support.
"I don't like the clean extension without any income cap," Fitzpatrick said. "But given the choice between a clean three-year extension and letting them expire, that's not a hard choice for me. And I suspect many of my other colleagues are going to view it the same way."
Fitzpatrick and Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., have held meetings with moderate senators on legislative paths to extend the ACA subsidies, a source familiar with the talks but not authorized to speak publicly tells NPR.
The Senate returns on Jan. 5 and the House comes back to Capitol Hill on Jan. 6.
