Topline:
Fernando Valenzuela has died at the age of 63.
Why it matters: Valenzuela made a mark as one of the most popular Dodgers of all-time, drawing in Mexican and Mexican American fans who celebrated the pitching star as a transformative figure in Major League Baseball.
What the Dodgers said: "We profoundly mourn the passing of Fernando,” said Stan Kasten, the L.A. Dodgers president and chief executive. Kasten called Valenzuela "one of the most influential Dodgers ever."
Fernando Valenzuela has died at the age of 63. Valenzuela made a mark as one of the most popular Dodgers of all-time, drawing in Mexican and Mexican American fans who celebrated the pitching star as a transformative figure in Major League Baseball.
"We profoundly mourn the passing of Fernando,” said Stan Kasten, the L.A. Dodgers president and chief executive in a statement announcing Valenzuela's death. Kasten called Valenzuela: "One of the most influential Dodgers ever."
Read more: Thank you Fernando: How a Dodgers legend captured my childhood heart
Valenzuela, who'd worked as a Spanish-language Dodgers broadcaster for more than two decades, had announced earlier this month that he would step away from the booth for the remainder of the season to focus on his health.
When they announced Valenzuela was stepping back, the Dodgers did not make clear the nature of his health issues. The team said at the time: "He and his family truly appreciate the love and support of fans as he aims to return for the 2025 season, and they have asked for privacy during this time.''
Valenzuela made his mark as a pitcher, and debuted at 19 on the mound for the Dodgers. He was a storied member of the 1981 Fernandomania season. That year, Valenzuela won the National League Rookie of the Year honors and the Cy Young award.
Last August, Valenzuela's number 34 jersey was retired by the Dodgers in front of a packed stadium.
As part of the celebration, the pitcher with a vicious screwball who was dubbed "El Toro," threw out the first to pitch to Mike Scioscia, his longtime catcher.
Jaime Jarrin, another legendary broadcaster for the Dodgers, explained Valenzuela's significance when his number was retired.
“He became right away a hero for Latinos following baseball,” Jarrín told LAist. “The most important thing is that he created so many new baseball followers.…people from Mexico, from Central America, from South America that didn’t care at all about baseball.”
Go deeper: ‘Fernandomania’ Returns: The Dodgers are (finally) retiring Fernando Valenzuela’s number
Since 2003, Valenzuela had been a beloved broadcaster with the team. Valenzuela called games for the last 21 years.
That part of his career began after Valenzuela played 11 years, including as a pitcher for the 1981 team that beat the New York Yankees. The two teams, among the most iconic in the MLB, face off this Friday for the first time since then.
Valenzuela was the youngest of 12 children, born in Etchohuaquila, Sonora, Mexico.
Within a year of his 1980 Major League debut, Fernandomania set in after he went on to an unprecedented career-opening run, with complete games in his first eight career starts. Five of those games were shutouts and his ERA was a stunningly-low 0.50.
Valenzuela is survived by his wife, Linda, and four children, Fernando Jr., Ricardo, Linda and Maria Fernanda, and seven grandchildren.
His death prompted an outpouring of memories and support for his loved ones.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass issued a statement calling Valenzuela a legend.
"To millions, Fernando Valenzuela was more than a baseball player," she said. "He was an icon that transcended the limits of hope and dreams. He was the voice of a game that we hold close in our hearts. His charisma was palpable, and his excellence was undeniable."
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Valenzuela's "profound impact on the game," will always be remembered, as well as "his spirit that embodied the California Dream."
Major League Baseball sent out a video documenting his rookie year.
Fernando Valenzuela captivated the baseball world in 1981. His unforgettable year included winning the NL Rookie of the Year, Cy Young Award & a World Series title.
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) October 23, 2024
We honor the memory of the Dodgers icon, who passed away Tuesday at age 63, with a look back at “Fernandomania.” pic.twitter.com/oAGgmddlFB
The Dodgers Spanish-language account on X (formerly Twitter) shared out a video of his final pitch in his first MLB start.
Fernandomanía por siempre. pic.twitter.com/uBeTXr5Zwm
— Los Dodgers (@LosDodgers) October 23, 2024
And tributes at an empty Dodger stadium after new of Valenzuela's death was shared by the team.
34 por siempre. 💙 pic.twitter.com/1Nziz1Aax6
— Los Dodgers (@LosDodgers) October 23, 2024
Topline:
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and her challenger, City Councilmember Nithya Raman, appeared at a South L.A. forum Saturday, where they agreed on some aspects of the city’s approach to homelessness, but offered different ideas on addressing housing costs.
On police: Raman criticized LAPD for its crowd control tactics during protests around ICE facilities and said Bass has allowed the department to not enforce a state law banning federal agents from wearing masks. Bass defended LAPD’s actions during ICE operations and said she would order the police chief to enforce the state mask ban if a judicial order blocking it is lifted.
On homelessness: Bass called the current approach “completely disfunctional” and called for a new system under the control of the city. Raman has said she also supports leaving the region’s troubled lead homelessness agency and investing in a new city homelessness bureau.
On housing: Raman criticized the mayor’s opposition to building more densely in residential neighborhoods near transit centers. She said the result has been more building in the city’s poorer council districts, including the South L.A. district that hosted Saturday’s forum. Bass has said density doesn’t belong in some neighborhoods. She opposed a state law, SB 79, that will force cities to allow apartment buildings up to nine stories tall near rail transit stations.
Read on… to learn how the candidates are promising to help South L.A.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and her challenger, City Councilmember Nithya Raman, appeared at a South L.A. forum Saturday, where they agreed on some aspects of the city’s approach to reducing homelessness, but offered different ideas on addressing housing costs.
The two appeared separately in conversations with Brenda Verano of CALO News at A Place Called Home, a youth services community organization.
Bass went first, saying she grew up just 20 blocks south of the venue.
“South L.A. has been a big part of my life and what I have done,” said Bass, who in 1991 helped start Community Coalition, which fights for racial and economic justice in that part of the city.
Each candidate was asked how they would build trust in City Hall among Black and Latino residents in South L.A.
“Black and brown poor folks the most have been central in my administration and will continue to be so,” Bass said. “But to me, representation is not just about faces in a room. It's about collaborating on everything you're doing.”
Raman said the establishment “has taken the people of Los Angeles for granted.”
“I’m running for mayor because I don’t want to ignore any part of this city,” she said. “I want to make sure we are people who know these communities not just in the mayor's office but across the many commissions, across the many departments that are designed to oversee these neighborhoods.”
Both vowed to expand pilot programs where unarmed social workers respond to certain non-emergency 911 calls instead of the police department.
“Law enforcement should not be dealing with homelessness and substance abuse and mental health,” Bass said. “Those are public health issues.”
But Bass said it's doubtful the police department’s budget will be cut before the 2028 Olympics. The mayor in the past has expressed support for growing the number of police officers.
Raman has said the department is about the right size. She expressed concern about the police department’s cooperation with ICE during recent federal immigration raids.
Raman also criticized the department for its crowd control tactics during protests around ICE facilities. Police used tear gas and rubber bullets against some protestors.
“This mayor did not speak out against those actions by LAPD, appointed a chief who has not met this moment, who said he would not enforce laws put in by the state to protect us,” Raman said.
Chief Jim McDonnell has previously said his department would not enforce California's state law banning federal immigration and law enforcement agents from wearing masks on duty. A federal appeals court in February blocked enforcement of the law.
Bass said if the judicial ban is lifted, she would order McDonnell to enforce the state law. The mayor also defended the department’s use of police officers for crowd control during ICE operations.
“If there is a crowd around an arrest, then LAPD is involved because we don’t want to have the federal government doing that,” she said.
On the city’s response to homelessness, Bass called the current system “completely disfunctional” and called for a new system under the control of the city.
Currently, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority oversees the city’s delivery of homeless services. Numerous audits have found poor accounting of taxpayer money at the agency — which spent nearly $830 million in public funds last fiscal year.
The county has already pulled its funding from the agency in favor of standing up a new county-run Department of Homeless Services and Housing.
Bass said unhoused people are not getting enough care once they leave the streets.
“It is insufficient. They are not taken care of in terms of their health, education, etc. A new system would enable us to do that,” Bass said.
Raman has said she also supports leaving LAHSA and investing in a new homelessness bureau. She noted that street homelessness fell in her council district while numbers across the city went up, according to this year’s homeless count.
“In the past few years, this mayor has refused to audit our homelessness response,” Raman said. “I am very committed to doing that, and I'll request that audit on day one.”
On housing, Raman criticized the mayor’s opposition to building more densely in residential neighborhoods near transit centers. She said the result has been more building in the city’s poorer council districts, including the South L.A. district that hosted Saturday’s forum.
“Wealthier neighborhoods, less diverse neighborhoods, whiter neighborhoods have actually pushed back on affordable housing, on greater density,” Raman said.
More of the city, said Raman, should bear the burden of greater density.
“We need to build more housing in Los Angeles, but we need to build it across every single neighborhood,” Raman added.
Bass has said density doesn’t belong in some neighborhoods. She opposed a state law, SB 79, that will force cities to allow apartment buildings up to nine stories tall near rail transit stations.
Bass said her administration has fast-tracked new income-restricted housing. But she argued that certain development restrictions are necessary to prevent gentrification.
“We need housing, but we cannot displace Black and Brown people,” Bass said. “If you have housing that is just built anywhere and everywhere, they're coming for us.”
Raman also criticized Bass’ move to temporarily lift restrictions on short-term rentals in preparation for an influx of visitors during the 2028 Olympics.
“I want to make sure that this mayor’s push for deregulating short-term rental during this time, in ways that are harmful to renters, don’t go through,” Raman said. She said tenants could be displaced as landlords turn long-term rentals into short-term accommodations.
Airbnb and business groups back the proposal, saying it will fill a visitor lodging gap for the Olympics and that it would generate significant municipal revenue. Airbnb has put more than $4 million toward backing Bass and three other city candidates, according to the latest campaign finance reports.
Topline:
The Big Bear community and fans of the famous bald eagles that call the valley home are coming together this weekend to honor Jackie.
Why it matters: Jackie, who with her partner Shadow won hearts around the world on popular YouTube livestream, died in August after weeks of intensive care.
Why now: A group of local officials and organizations, including Friends of Big Bear Valley, the nonprofit that runs the livestream, helped organize the “Wings Over Big Bear” weekend with a commemoration ceremony Saturday and Wildlife Education Day Sunday.
Read on ... to go inside the ceremony and hear from fans.
The Big Bear community and fans of the famous bald eagles that call the valley home are coming together this weekend to honor Jackie.
Jackie, who with her partner Shadow won hearts around the world on a popular YouTube livestream, died in August after weeks of intensive care.
A group of local, state and federal officials and organizations, including the nonprofit behind the livestream, Friends of Big Bear Valley, helped organize the “Wings Over Big Bear” weekend with a commemoration ceremony Saturday and Wildlife Education Day Sunday.
Diane Lech came up from Carlsbad and stopped by to see the overflowing Jackie memorial at Fawnskin Freedom Park. She’s been watching the livestream since 2015, when the cameras were first installed.
“And [Jackie’s] been part of my life ever since,” Lech said, her eyes welling up with tears. “It’s heartwarming to know that she had such an effect on so many people.”
Vanessa Bloom, a Huntington Beach resident, and her mom are regular viewers of the eagle livestream. Bloom said the ceremony feels like a coming-together at a time when there’s so much polarization and division in the world.
“Everyone's here for a common cause,” Bloom said. “There's a lot of unity and people just being with each other in a time of tragedy, which you don't really see that often, and I think that's special.”
Maggie Keen, a Thousand Oaks resident, took her first trip to Big Bear in years to attend the ceremony.
“[Jackie] was just amazing,” Keen said. “Very strong, took charge of everything and was just like an incredible bird to watch her with the fledglings.”
Ron Wood, better known as Woody, works at Captain John's Fawn Harbor & Marina by Dana Point Park in Fawnskin, where he points out the nest to fans daily.
“We all thought that she was going to come around and be brought back here, and, you know, it's pretty depressing,” Wood said. “Every single person still that comes is teary-eyed.”
Jenny Voisard, media manager for Friends of Big Bear Valley, told LAist ahead of the ceremony that the turnout shows just how the love people have for Jackie.
“A lot of people were surprised at how much they were grieving,” Voisard said. “We all still miss Jackie.”
Livestream
Send a postcard for Jackie
Visit Big Bear said to send a note for Jackie on postcards that represent your community or a place that is meaningful to you.
Mail to: Post Cards for Jackie, P.O. Box 1936, Big Bear Lake, CA 92315
Topline:
Move over, beach reads. With the fall equinox behind us, we can now curl up with cozy autumn books.
Why now: Here are our recommendations of new titles coming from Barbara Kingsolver, Chad Harbach, Jasmine Guillory and more.
Goodbye and good riddance to the beach read. At least for this year, we can stop pretending that baking on the sand in the hot sun or tilted awkwardly on a damp plastic lounge chair by the pool is the ideal setting for reading. Now, with the fall equinox behind us, we can look forward and embrace the one true ideal season for reading: autumn.
Or we can not be so dramatic about it and just say that there are a lot of books coming out between now and the holidays. A few we've included in our round up are long-awaited follow ups to stunning entrances onto the literary scene. Others are big, ambitious projects. Others yet are versions of older works only now being translated into English. There are obviously some high-profile titles that we missed in the name of brevity but, hopefully, there are a few titles here that weren't on your radar before.
The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman by Deesha Philyaw (Sept. 29)
Philyaw's 2020 short story collection The Secret Lives of Church Ladies felt like a discovery. Published by a small university press, the book was brave and honest in its handling of sexuality and religion. It became such a sensation in certain corners of the literary world that you really had to wonder — what the heck has Philyaw been up to? Well, we find out soon in her first full-length novel about, well, sex, religion, gossip and marriage.
Partita by Barbara Kingsolver (Oct. 6)
It's Kingsolver's 19th novel. Fresh off her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Demon Copperhead, one of the most prominent voices in Appalachian writing comes out with a book about a pianist on her way to classical music stardom, until that path gets knocked off kilter. Kingsolver herself originally went to college to study classical music but never truly showed her love for it in her fiction — until now.
It's Only Dancing by Jasmine Guillory (Oc.t 6)
Every now and then I come across a video of a cute couple doing (or attempting to do) the Dirty Dancing lift. It's a bold move with a high-risk factor for completely eating it. Well, now Jasmine Guillory's showing similar boldness. Her upcoming book — her first YA novel — is a take on Dirty Dancing. It follows a young girl and her charming dance instructor, as they try to figure out their dance steps — and each other.
The Brightness by Chad Harbach (Oct. 27)
This is the long-awaited sequel to Harbach's acclaimed 2011 baseball/campus novel The Art of Fielding. We return to Westish College — but we put down the bats and balls and, instead, focus on sexual assault, feminism, campus politics and the high costs of speaking out.
Behind the Gate & Other Stories by Amparo Dávila, translated by Audrey Harris and Matthew Gleeson (Nov. 3)
With her 2018 short story collection The Houseguest, Mexican author Amparo Dávila became a fixture in the English-speaking cult canon of weird-girl literature. Dávila died at age 92 in 2020 but a new collection of her creepy, unsettling and odd stories are coming in English this fall.
I Can't Stop Thinking About Horses and Sex by Lisa Hanawalt (Oct. 20)
A graphic memoir from Tuca & Bertie creator Lisa Hanawalt that tells you exactly what it's about in the title. And the horses bit isn't a metaphor for life or whatever, there's actually a lot in here about riding horses, taking care of horses, and how loving horses is both silly/ridiculous/expensive and, also, one of the best things in the world. OK, maybe it is a bit of a metaphor.
Celeste, Daughter of the Earth and Other Early Poems by Enrique Lihn, translated by Jonathan Cohen and David Unger (Oct. 20)
This book collects translated early works of the celebrated Chilean poet Enrique Lihn. And they have the full-hearted verve and drive of a younger poet. In the poem "Steadfast," the narrator speaks to the subject angrily and bitterly but ends with the lines, "I will live secretly by your side / like the corpse I've been since loving you."
Look at Me by Dustin Hoffman with Ariel Levy (Nov. 10)
Dustin Hoffman is 89 years old now. In his lifetime, he's been at the center of some of the most enduring images seared into the minds of American culture. You can picture it, can't you? Him on the bus in The Graduate. Him at the office in All The President's Men. Him and the big crocodile thing in Hook. It's a sure bet his memoir will cover at least two of those movies in depth.
Weird Era: How Pitchfork Changed Music Forever: A Memoir by Ryan Schreiber (Dec. 1)
As the founder of the music website Pitchfork, Schreiber had a front-row seat to the changing tides of music, music distribution, music criticism, the Internet, snobbery, taste, stardom, obscurity and rating art on a scale of 1-10. The book goes into the origins of Pitchfork and offers insight into its eventual sale to Condé Nast, reminding readers that there is a real person behind that review you hated.
The Co-Creation: How Earth Made Life and Life Made Earth by Olivia Judson (Dec. 13)
You have to give props to the big swings, and explaining the origins of life on Earth is maybe one of the biggest swings you could take. Judson is an evolutionary biologist but has spent most of her career as a science writer, explaining the world and all its inhabitants to the rest of us.
Copyright 2026 NPR
Topline:
Long Beach Unified announced Thursday it expects to close Gompers and Edison elementary schools at the end of the school year, saying the campuses are underenrolled.
Why now: It’s the district’s latest effort to consolidate resources as enrollment continues to fall districtwide. LBUSD enrollment dipped below 60,000 students this year, the first time it crossed that threshold since the early 1980s.
Why it matters: As enrollment declines, so does school funding, and LBUSD is taking drastic measures as operating costs exceed revenue.
This story first appeared on Long Beach Post.
Long Beach Unified announced Thursday it expects to close Gompers and Edison elementary schools at the end of the school year, saying the campuses are underenrolled.
It’s the district’s latest effort to consolidate resources as enrollment continues to fall districtwide. LBUSD enrollment dipped below 60,000 students this year, the first time it crossed that threshold since the early 1980s.
As enrollment declines, so does school funding, and LBUSD is taking drastic measures as operating costs exceed revenue. In a recent budget report, the district said it expects to draw nearly $45 million from its reserves this school year — the third year of deficit spending. Already, the district has reduced library support, mental health resources, and certificated and classified staff. Hoover Middle School closed last year due to low enrollment, the district said. Both LBUSD and the school board have signaled that more tough cuts are on the horizon; some are already here.
“It feels like a big loss,” said school board member Juan Benitez, whose district includes Edison Elementary. Yet he added that low birth rates will continue pushing enrollment down. The district and board have a fiscal responsibility to take action — not only to balance the budget, but to ensure students receive the best learning environment possible, which is difficult to maintain at schools with low capacity, he said.
If the school closures are approved by the board of education, the Gompers attendance boundary will be consolidated with three nearby Lakewood elementary schools: Cleveland, Holmes and MacArthur, according to a letter the district sent to families. Edison students would attend Chavez and Oropeza elementary schools, both within a mile of Edison’s downtown campus.
If families wish to send their children to different schools, they will receive priority in the school choice process, the letters added.
The campuses will not remain vacant, Benitez said. Edison may be used as a temporary site while other schools undergo modernization projects, and additional uses will be proposed for Gompers, he said. The Child Development Center currently housed at Edison will remain there for at least the next several years, he said.
Teachers on permanent contracts at Gompers and Edison will keep their jobs in the district, said Peder Larsen, president of the teachers union, and they will get precedence in school reassignments. But they may not learn their new school sites until April, once the school transfer and assignment process is underway, he said.
The news has hit hard for families. Ashlee Napalan, an LBUSD teacher and a parent of three children at Gompers Elementary, said the news was “heartbreaking” and surprising, especially because Gompers underwent a significant remodel last year, including the installation of a new HVAC system, as well as fresh paint and new playground equipment, she said.
She described a tight-knit community at Gompers and said her children walk to school and play with other kids at the park across the street. When she told her son, a kindergartener, the news, she said he cried all night. “We’ve been really heavily involved with the school for seven years,” she said. “It’s a huge part of our lives.”
Some parents have already begun organizing to oppose the move. A petition to keep Gompers open accrued more than 600 signatures in one day. Some parents said they plan to speak at the school board meeting on Oct. 7 when the issue will be presented to the board as an information item. The board is expected to vote on Oct. 21. Parents at each school have been invited to informational meetings in the coming month, according to the letters sent by the district.
Benitez said he is pushing for “ongoing, constant, clear responsive communication” to the families affected by these proposed changes. “The recommendation is not being taken lightly,” he said, adding that he — and the district — will be listening closely to students’ and families’ concerns.
