Mariana Dale
explores and explains the forces that shape how and what kids learn from kindergarten to high school.
Published March 20, 2024 5:00 AM
Robert Quintana painted this mural of Octavia E. Butler outside the school library in 2020. Among Butler's writing on the wall is the phrase "So be it. See to it." which has becomes the school's unofficial motto.
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The Pasadena middle school once attended by — and in 2022 renamed for — the author Octavia E. Butler will hold its third Science Fiction Festival on Friday.
Celebrating STEAM: That’s education lingo for science, technology, engineering, art and math. Students and families can learn how to code robots, talk to an astronomer, create space-inspired art, and might even spot their favorite Star Wars character. “Last year, the fungal expert was such a hit,” said school librarian Natalie Daily. “I had to have them back this year because the kids just thought it was so cool to see all those different weird mushrooms.”
The backstory: The multi-award winning and best selling author graduated from what was then Washington Junior High in 1962. She wrote some of her earliest stories while a student.
Event details: The festival is open to thePasadena Unified School District community and families interested in Octavia E. Butler Magnet, a dual-language STEAM middle school. It starts Friday, March 22 at 3 p.m. and goes until 6 p.m. Before you go, register online.
School librarian Natalie Daily organized the Octavia E. Butler Magnet’s first science fiction writing contest in 2020, the same year the school’s library was renamed in her honor. The school itself was renamed two years later.
Octavia E. Butler Library Science Fiction Festival
Open to: Pasadena Unified School District community and families interested in Octavia E. Butler Magnet, a dual language STEAM middle school.
“I want [students] to realize that their ideas matter,” Daily said. “I think that Butler is a testament to that, you know, she was writing stuff and thinking about really, really deep ideas when she was a student here.”
"It kind of sometimes feels like her eyes are watching you," librarian Natalie Daily said of the chalk portrait of Butler by Bianca Ornelas in the library. "I just kind of think, would I be making a space that she would have liked?"
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In 2022, the school expanded the contest into the first Science Fiction Festival.
“It's just ways for kids to be engaged in both science and art, and creation,” Daily said. “To see themselves as part of all of it.”
Students and families can learn how to code robots, talk to an astronomer, create space-inspired art, and might even spot their favorite Star Wars character.
“Last year, the fungal expert was such a hit,” Daily said. “I had to have them back this year because the kids just thought it was so cool to see all those different weird mushrooms.”
The festival will also reveal the winners of the 2023-2024 science fiction contest. The now- annual school-wide competition includes art, short narrative, poetry, and graphic fiction.
A new generation of science fiction creators
LAist caught up with a few of the students who’d won first place in their respective categories in 2022 and will graduate later this year.
Roffman wrote "Savages" after watching Disney's Pocahontas and thinking about how aliens would view humans.
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"I wrote a poem and I realized, wait a second, this is really fun," Roffman said. "So I put a lot of work into the poem."
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Then-sixth grader Brooklyn Roffman wrote a poem called “Savages” that imagines aliens demeaning earthlings the way European colonists did Native Americans.
“I wrote it and then I had a lot of thoughts about it — mostly negative thoughts,” Roffman said. “So then I just changed it, like, word by word.”
Her revisions paid off — she won first prize in the poetry category.
“It felt amazing,” Roffman said. “I put a lot of work into it and it felt really good to do something right for once.”
"I'm not very great at expressing my feelings, like, socially, so I just let out on writing," student Dayana Diaz said.
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Diaz shared this excerpt from her story: "I bet you would think living on Mars in the year 3268 would be horrible, but its beauty speaks for itself. We humans came to Mars when it was finally very full of life. Earth, of course, still exists and is habitable, but we prefer to stay on Mars either way. Its atmosphere holds a soft pink sky with white clouds."
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Dayana Diaz wrote a short story about people who built a life on Mars and a war with Jupiter that threatens to destroy it.
“It's similar to Earth — although it's, like, obviously not the same at all,” Diaz said. “It still has the same, like, beauty to it.”
Diaz said she was inspired by research about the possibility of sustaining life on the red planet.
“I feel like there's a good possibility that we could go there one day, and I would like that to happen,” Diaz said.
When she found out she won first prize, Diaz said she was surprised, happy, but also a little bit nervous.
“It just made me realize that I actually really do like writing,” Diaz said. “Like I should write a little more.”
Molnar's drawing was inspired by a science project about the impact of humans on coral reefs.
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"Whenever I feel like unmotivated or, like, I just not in the mood to draw, I usually think about the things that I have done that went really well," Molnar said. "That kind of helps me."
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Maxine Molnar’s winning illustration shows a girl standing on a cliff looking out over a receding ocean. A spaceship and red sedan float above the water. Dots of color in the distance imply an airborne freeway.
“I learned more about endangered coral reefs, and I discovered how much I love to draw in perspective,” Molnar said.
Molnar said middle school has been full of opportunities to learn — academically — and about herself.
“I've explored more of, like, what I enjoy doing,” Molnar said. “What I'm really good at and things that I also need to work on.”
Learn more about Octavia E. Butler Magnet got its name
Next week, we’ll be back with a recap of the Science Fiction Festival (and our new favorite fungus?) and more on the school's relationship with Butler.
LAist reporter Mariana Dale wants your help telling stories about K-12 education
Josie Huang
is a reporter and Weekend Edition host who spotlights the people and places at the heart of our region.
Published September 27, 2026 9:27 AM
More details on quake coming shortly.
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ananaline / Getty Images
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Topline:
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 3.6 struck near Hermosa Beach, and was likely felt as far off as Oxnard.
Keep reading ... for more on what we know for now.
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 3.6 struck off the South Bay at about 8:40 a.m., and was likely felt as far as Oxnard.
The U.S. Geological Survey says it was centered about four miles west-southwest of Hermosa Beach. More than 1,500 people reported feeling it.
It was not immediately clear if any damage had been reported.
We will have more on this developing story shortly.
We have earthquake resources
We don't want to scare you, but the Big One is coming. We don't know when, but we know it'll be at least 44 times stronger than Northridge and 11 times stronger than the Ridgecrest quakes in 2019. To help you get prepared, we've compiled a handy reading list:
Members of Compás Discoteca (L to R): Adrian Silva, Albert Piña, Ricardo Carlos, and Elias Ruiz.
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Compás Discoteca, a four-person DJ collective, fosters community and connections with eclectic live vinyl mixing at restaurants in and near the Inland Empire.
The backstory: Ricardo Carlos, Elias Ruiz, Albert Piña and Adrian Silva have been friends for about two decades. They all DJ as a hobby and often share music. The crew decided to form the collective after seeing what they thought of as a "sign" in 2024.
On a Sunday night at the Mexican restaurant La Popular in Claremont, diners are eating to a soundtrack that starts with cumbia and jumps to J Balvin and Bad Bunny before landing on Luther Vandross.
That’s the aim of DJ collective Compás Discoteca — to bring connection and community through live vinyl mixing at La Popular and El Balcon in Ontario.
How Compás Discoteca was born
Ricardo Carlos, Elias Ruiz, Albert Piña and Adrian Silva have been friends for about two decades. They all DJ as a hobby and often share music. On a night out in 2024, they saw a sign: a parking space for a “compact car,” minus two letters.
“The C and T are missing — compá. Like, ‘We're compás,’” Carlos said, recounting that night.
A "Compás Discoteca" turntable mat.
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Their DJ collective, Compás Discoteca, was born. “Compás” means “buddies” in Spanish and “Discoteca” means “nightclub."
Seasoning the scene
When Compás Discoteca first formed, the members said Southern California’s vinyl-listening scene was more focused on track selection, letting songs play out in full. The collective wanted to bring more life to the experience by mixing music live.
“It just seemed a little stale,” Silva said. “I feel like we helped to bring some seasoning to that.”
They also wanted to play genres people wouldn’t normally hear together.
“You might hear us jump from funk to cumbia to hip-hop to disco, soul to house. We're just trying to take people on a journey with us,” Silva said.
Each compá takes their turn at the turntables for two 30-minute sets. And each brings their own sound.
Three of the "compás" pose for a picture in between their sets.
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Silva is the “party-starter.” He gets people dancing.
Carlos has a Latin bent, taking influence from his Puerto Rican, Salvadoran and Creole roots.
Ruiz lives for “jaw-drop moments” and brings records he thinks will surprise his fellow DJs.
Piña spins rare world grooves in the funk and boogie vein.
“He probably gets the most Shazams from us and from the audience,” Ruiz said of Piña. “But most importantly, you feel like you're hanging out and with some good music.”
Albert Piña prepares looks through a box of vinyl records during his DJ set at "La Popular" in Claremont.
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Feeding off the energy
Compás Discoteca DJs at El Balcon in Ontario on the first Friday of each month and at La Popular in Claremont on the third Sunday.
The vibes for Sundays are chill, they said, and Fridays are for letting it all loose.
“There's like an energy there, like, ‘Oh, man, we made it through the week.’ We try to feed off of that,” Piña said.
Compás Discoteca vinyl nights
Compás Discoteca DJs at El Balcon (200 N. Euclid Ave., Unit C, Ontario) on the first Friday of each month and at La Popular (235 N. Yale Ave., Claremont) on the third Sunday.
When: Fridays, 7 p.m. to 12 a.m.; Sundays, 5 to 9 p.m.
Cost: free to diners
Next shows: Friday, Oct. 2, at El Balcon; Sunday, Oct. 18, at La Popular
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Fiona Ng
is LAist's deputy managing editor and leads a team of reporters who explore food, culture, history, events and more.
Published September 27, 2026 5:00 AM
The Bagel Portal, the bagel delivery system of 29 Loaves, in Joshua Tree.
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Joshua Tree has quirk, character and plenty of nature. Since 2024, it also has real New York-style bagels.
How? These bagels are courtesy of 29 Loaves, a home bakery operated by DIY baker and through-and-through New Yorker Richard Lee.
Read on… to find out what distinguishes a New York-style bagel from lesser ones, according to Lee, and how he learned to make his.
Along Highway 62 in Joshua Tree, a stack of high school lockers holds something the High Desert was missing: a real New York-style bagel.
For that, you have DIY baker Richard Lee to thank.
“I want a bagel. What do I do?” Lee remembered thinking after moving to Twentynine Palms in 2023 from Los Angeles, where he had lived for more than a decade.
The Bagel Portal off Highway 62 in Joshua Tree.
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Richard Lee
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It wasn’t just any bagel the born-and-raised New Yorker was craving, but the kind from back home that gives “a little crunch” when you bite into its crust — with a “chewy, softer” inside and a taste Lee calls “ineffable.”
“Like maybe a sourdough or an Italian bread,” he said.
Taught by YouTube, tested by family in New York
Richard Lee converted his garage in 29 Palms to make bagels.
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A tinkerer by nature, Lee launched 29 Loaves in early 2024, bringing bagels he handcrafts in his licensed home operation to Twentynine Palms, Joshua Tree and surrounding communities.
“I went to the culinary school of YouTube,” he said, having watched more than 100 videos on how to make a bagel. At first, he relied on his own taste buds as a guide, before sending his creations to his family in New York to taste.
After months of overnight shipping, Lee said, “Even a UPS store is asking me, ‘Why are you doing that?’”
“I know it makes no sense,” he told them. “That's how I operate.”
29 Loaves serves up New York-style bagels to Joshua Tree and other desert communities.
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Eventually, his sister gave the thumbs-up. To be extra, extra, extra sure, Lee went to folks living in the desert with New York ties to get their blessing.
“Attention is an ingredient,” Lee said of his bagels. It’s a philosophy he’s honed while running his other business providing IT services, which he now operates remotely.
“Garbage in, garbage out,” he said. “If you make a mistake or something falls on the bagel and marks it, it’ll end up that way as a finished product.”
Why bagels mean so much to him
Lee, whose father is Korean and mother is Brazilian, said his bakery is ultimately about food memories — and draws inspiration from what he ate growing up. The only other baked good 29 Loaves sells is pão de queijo, a gluten-free Brazilian cheese puff he makes.
Richard Lee handmakes New York-style bagels at his home operation.
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Courtesy 29 Loaves
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But nothing rivals bagels. Sundays were often bagel days in his childhood home in the Long Island suburbs. As a teenager working for his father, Lee remembered they would make detours off the Long Island Expressway to grab fresh bagels.
“They were nice and plump, and they were so hot,” he said.
Father and son would eat them straight out of the bag — no cream cheese, no nothing.
“Those were the types of memories that I wanna bring here,” Lee said.
Get your bagel
You can find 29 Loaves bagels in select cafes and markets in desert communities, including Indian Wells, Palm Desert and Pioneertown. Lee himself delivers orders within Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree.
For a 24/7 hankering, there’s The Bagel Portal, at 61877 29 Palms Highway, Joshua Tree — look for a stack of lockers under a wooden A-frame in the parking lot facing the highway. You’ll get a combination code after making a purchase.
The widespread coastal damage from Hurricane Marie, which was hundreds of miles off the coast, is a preview of what El Nino could bring later this year.
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Mario Tama
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Getty Images
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Topline:
Big surf from distant hurricanes in the Pacific could bring coastal flooding to Southern California starting this weekend.
Why it matters: Hurricanes Polo and Odalys are expected to cause coastal erosion, flooding and high surf along Southern California's already battered coastline.
Read on ... for the forecast.
Big surf from distant hurricanes in the Pacific could bring coastal flooding to Southern California starting this weekend.
Hurricanes Polo and Odalys are expected to cause coastal erosion, flooding and high surf along Southern California's already battered coastline. Swells from Polo are expect to arrive as early as late Sunday and peak Monday and Tuesday.
Bryan Lewis, National Weather Service meteorologist, told LAist that high tides could reach 7 feet. He said Long Beach and Avalon are among the more vulnerable areas for potential flooding and erosion.
Long Beach and Los Angeles warned residents to prepare for potential flooding and other effects through at least Wednesday.
In early September, Hurricane Marie brought coastal erosion and flooding that led homes being red- and yellow-tagged in L.A. and Orange counties.
