Topline:
Although some of Altadena’s restaurants have reopened since the Eaton Fire of January 2025, those whose structures were destroyed face a different set of challenges.
Hurdles: What stands in the way of rebuilding? Costs, logistics and new building requirements.
Why now: At the one-year anniversary of the Eaton Fire, many restaurants remain uncertain about how and even whether they will reopen.
Read on ... to hear from several Altadena restaurateurs.
Altadena one year after the Eaton Fire finds itself in the space between a memory of what existed before and the unknown of where the town will be once it’s rebuilt.
For restaurants that survived and those that didn’t, the unknown could last a while.
“We’re acknowledging that we’re part of something that is going to be much longer and an extended period of uncertainty,” said Randy Clement, co-owner of West Altadena Wine and Good Neighbor Bar with his wife and partner, April Langford.
With the town still years away from recovery, it’s that uncertainty, as Clement explains, that is particularly hard for the Altadena business community. Having lost its local customer base, businesses no longer can rely on the seasonal ebbs and flows. For businesses whose structures were destroyed in the fire, this uncertainty extends into decisions to rebuild.
Fox’s on Lake Avenue served diner-style dishes like buttermilk pancakes, a winning house veggie burger and homemade pies. It was the kind of place you went to feel at home. (In fact, the building had been converted from a house into a restaurant.) Co-owners Monique King and Paul Rosenbluh, who own Little Beast and Cindy’s in Eagle Rock, remain undecided about rebuilding.
“Resources are thin, and our property’s footprint is small,” King said, “so a costly rebuild for a tiny restaurant carries many considerations. We’re in a holding pattern until we decide what’s best.”
King and others said rebuilding is not necessarily straightforward. Businesses that operated in older structures may need to update layouts to comply with newer regulations. Construction and materials come with high expenses, as does permitting, and a host of other factors. Another question mark is whether a business was adequately insured before the fire.
While businesses agreed the top priority is resettling residents, there are limited financial resources to help commercial structures that were destroyed.
Up the street from Fox’s sat Café de Leche, a coffee shop owned by Anya and Matt Schodorf.
“As painful as the loss was, and still is, we never had any doubt about returning,” Anya Schodorf said.
“Of our multiple locations, this was the only building we owned. It was the majority of our income and a magical place,” Matt Schodorf said.
In November, to much community excitement, the couple shared design renderings of their prospective rebuild, as they ambitiously push toward returning.
“We’re eager to offer a space for the community to gather and heal together,” Anya Schodorf said.
Other businesses' futures are less certain.
On Mariposa Street, half of the small shopping strip known as Mariposa Junction was lost in the fire. The structure housed the beloved Altadena Hardware store and the daytime cafe Amara Kitchen.
Paola Guasp owns Amara, which has another location in Highland Park. The Altadena shop was popular among locals, with its bright welcoming space and tables outside for enjoying a sunny Altadena day.
“After the fire, we immediately transferred staff to our Highland Park location. We’ve been putting our energy there and growing our catering business,” Guasp said.
As for getting back to Altadena, it may be a long road.
“Our landlords are amazing and want to see the space thriving. We’re just so far away from rebuilding, so it’s hard to say what the future looks like,” Guasp said.
Over on Fair Oaks Avenue, Jamie Woolner, co-owner of Pizza of Venice, also lost his business. With a long list of creative pizzas and salads, Pizza of Venice, or “POV” as locals called it, was a classic neighborhood spot.
Woolner’s now-97-year-old grandfather built the structure in 1962, and Woolner owned and ran the business for 12 years.
“The restaurant was finally turning into the dream we’d always envisioned for it, and then the whole place burned down,” Woolner said.
Since the fire, Woolner has reflected on if and how the business could return, but rebuilding is a long and expensive project.
Guillaume Patard-Legendre and his wife and partner, Darcy Ballister, run Altadena’s much-adored Pain Beurre bread popup that draws on Patard-Legendre’s French background and baking expertise.
In February 2024, the couple moved from France to Altadena, where Ballister grew up. That July, Patard-Legendre started Pain Beurre from his in-laws’ ADU.
“The business was dedicated to Altadena,” said Patard-Legendre, who saw a local opportunity for French-style baked goods.
Pain Beurre quickly took off, growing a dedicated fan base. The Eaton Fire destroyed Ballister’s parents’ home, including the ADU where Patard-Legendre and Ballister lived and operated the business.
Without a traditional brick-and-mortar shop, Patard-Legendre was in a unique situation.
In March, World Central Kitchen extended an olive branch, helping him restart, including offering baking space at a local commissary kitchen.
“Their help was such a gift when we had nothing,” he said. “I felt like I was in the movie Pretty Woman at the restaurant supply store. World Central Kitchen has been so supportive. We couldn’t have restarted without them.”
A unanimous sentiment among businesses a year after the fire is an undying love for Altadena and reverence for the community’s resilience amid ongoing tragedy.
“The mass scale of loss is still unbelievable,” said Guasp, of Amara Kitchen.
“People lost their homes, along with 20, 30, 40 years of their lives. Some people lost their lives,” Fox’s King said.
Yet as King and fellow owners’ hopes and dreams for returning show, no one has lost sight of what brought everyone there to begin with. Altadena, King said, is “just a remarkably special place.”
Topline:
State Farm reaches settlement over emergency insurance rate hikes after last year’s Los Angeles County fires.
Why it matters: State Farm, the largest insurer in the state with about 20% market share, received approval for unprecedented emergency insurance rate increases in California last May. The company told the state that the billions of dollars it expected to pay out after the deadly fires placed it in financial peril.
Why now: The proposed deal among the state Insurance Department, consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog and State Farm, disclosed late last week, comes after months of public hearings convened by the insurance department and settlement talks.
Read on... for more from the proposed settlement.
The Los Angeles County fires last year drove up insurance costs for many Californians. Now, a proposed settlement means some State Farm policyholders whose premiums rose won’t see additional increases, and others should even get refunds.
State Farm, the largest insurer in the state with about 20% market share, received approval for unprecedented emergency insurance rate increases in California last May. The company told the state that the billions of dollars it expected to pay out after the deadly fires placed it in financial peril.
The proposed deal among the state Insurance Department, consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog and State Farm, disclosed late last week, comes after months of public hearings convened by the insurance department and settlement talks.
Consumer Watchdog, which questioned the rate increases State Farm asked for, says the settlement saves the company’s California policyholders a total of $530 million. From the proposed settlement:
In addition, State Farm has agreed not to cancel any new policies this year, and it won’t be canceling some policies it had planned not to renew in wildfire-affected areas. The insurance department characterized those provisions as important to the continued stability of the state’s insurance market, which has been beset with availability and affordability issues.
“When consumer advocates are able to challenge the data and present their own analysis, excessive requests are reduced and consumers are protected,” said Harvey Rosenfield in a statement. Rosenfield founded Consumer Watchdog and wrote Proposition 103, the voter-approved law that governs insurance in California.
State Farm has paid out more than $5 billion in claims from the L.A.-area fires so far, said spokesperson Tom Hartmann.
After consumer complaints and lawsuits, the insurance department is investigating the company’s handling of claims from the fires and expects results from that examination later this spring.
The agreement, which must be approved by an administrative law judge, also requires State Farm to undergo additional review of its rates in 2027. The company will be required to make a one time 2.5% premium discount available to renewing policyholders if its ratio of premiums to available cash reaches a certain level; Consumer Watchdog litigation director Will Pletcher said the deal will give the group more timely access to the company’s annual financial statements to help keep it accountable.
The insurance department expects the judge to decide on the settlement by April 7. Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara will then review the judge’s decision and have the final say.
This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.
Topline:
Iran's state media issued what it said was a statement by Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, vowing to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and keep up attacks on U.S. bases in the region, as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran entered its 13th day.
The Strait of Hormuz: The Iranian statement said the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for a fifth of the world's oil supply, should remain closed. It said Iran continues to believe in friendship with its neighbors but will continue targeting U.S. bases in the region. "The lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must undoubtedly continue to be used.," the statement said, according to an English version published by Tasnim News Agency, run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
Unclear of statement's authenticity: It was purported to be the new leader's first statement since he succeeded his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli strike on the first day of the war. It's unclear if the statement was from Mojtaba Khamenei himself. There's been speculation about the leader's current condition and whereabouts. An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly, told NPR that Khamenei was lightly injured early in the war.
Iran's state media issued what it said was a statement by Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, vowing to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and keep up attacks on U.S. bases in the region, as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran entered its 13th day.
It was purported to be the new leader's first statement since he succeeded his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli strike on the first day of the war.
The statement said Iran will avenge the blood of its "martyrs," including the victims of a March 1 attack on a girls school in the city of Minab, which Iranian officials say killed at least 165 people, many of them children. NPR has confirmed the U.S. military is investigating how it could have targeted the school.
The Iranian statement said the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for a fifth of the world's oil supply, should remain closed. It said Iran continues to believe in friendship with its neighbors but will continue targeting U.S. bases in the region.
"The lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must undoubtedly continue to be used.," the statement said, according to an English version published by Tasnim News Agency, run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
It's unclear if the statement was from Mojtaba Khamenei himself. Another person was heard reading out the remarks on Iranian state media, with a photo of Khamenei posted on the TV screen, as it was broadcast around the world.
There's been speculation about the leader's current condition and whereabouts. An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly, told NPR that Khamenei was lightly injured early in the war.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
Here are other major updates about the conflict.
To jump to specific areas of coverage, use the links below:
Attacks on vessels | Oil stockpiles | Strikes across the Gulf | Israel-Hezbollah escalation | Iranian school attack
Two oil tankers were hit in Iraqi territorial waters near the southern port area of Basra, Iraqi officials said Thursday. It is the first oil-related strike reported in Iraq's waters during more than a week of war, in another sign of the conflict's escalation.
Iran, a critical ally of Iraq, took responsibility for attacking one of the tankers, which it said was owned by the U.S.
A port official said the attack targeted vessels near Basra's port approaches, and Iraq's security spokesman described it as sabotage.
Iraqi officials said one person was killed, and 38 crew members were rescued, with search operations continuing.
Iran has stepped up attacks on energy infrastructure and commercial shipping in response to U.S. and Israeli strikes, warning that the world should brace for oil prices to double.
— Jane Arraf
The U.S. confirmed it will release 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of a coordinated International Energy Agency (IEA) release of 400 million barrels from emergency stockpiles.
The U.S. contribution amounts to roughly 40% of the total, to be released gradually over about four months.
The IEA's executive director, Fatih Birol, said the goal is to keep the supply of oil flowing as the conflict disrupts shipping routes and energy infrastructure. But analysts warn stockpile releases can only partially offset prolonged disruption in the Gulf, where roughly a fifth of global oil consumption normally transits the Strait of Hormuz.
On Wednesday, President Trump said the price spike is temporary and said the reserve release would push prices down.
According to the popular app Gas Buddy, the current average cost of regular unleaded is now up to $3.61 a gallon.
- Camila Domonoske
Countries in the Gulf reported new incoming threats and interceptions Thursday, as Iran continued firing drones and missiles across the region – including at U.S. military bases.
The UAE's defense ministry said air defenses were responding to Iranian missile and drone attacks, and that sounds heard in parts of the country were from intercepts.
Kuwait's defense ministry said its air defenses intercepted ballistic missiles and drones that penetrated the northern and southern parts of the country's airspace.
Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed drones headed toward the Shaybah oil field.
The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution on Wednesday condemning Iran for recent attacks across the Persian Gulf region, calling them a "breach of international law" and "a serious threat to international peace and security."
- Rebecca Rosman
The militant group Hezbollah launched its biggest rocket attack against Israel since the start of the war with Iran. The Israeli military said the Iranian-backed group fired heavy volleys toward northern Israel overnight into Thursday, triggering interceptions and sending residents repeatedly into shelters.
The Israeli military responded by launching more attacks against what it said were Hezbollah launch sites and command infrastructure.
Huge booms were heard across the capital and large black smoke billowed from the Dahieh neighborhood in south Beirut, while an attack in central Beirut – where thousands of people are displaced – killed 8 people and injured 31, according to Lebanese officials.
Wide evacuation orders for south Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs have displaced at least 800,000 people so far, according to the Lebanese government.
Lebanon, which does not have diplomatic ties with Israel, has unusually called for direct talks with Israel to end the escalating fighting with Hezbollah. Israel has not officially responded.
Israeli strikes on Iran have continued, with Iran firing missiles at Israel intermittently, including overnight.
Israeli military officials say about half of the missiles Iran has launched at Israel have carried cluster warheads, which spread out into smaller bombs over a wider area – increasing the risk to civilians.
- Daniel Estrin, Hadeel Al-Shalchi and Rebecca Rosman
The Pentagon has opened a formal investigation into the missile strike on an Iranian girls school that killed at least 165 civilians, many of them children, after a preliminary assessment suggested the U.S. was at fault, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly. The investigation is expected to take months and will include interviews with all those involved, from planners and commanders to those who carried out the strike.
If a U.S. role in the attack is confirmed, it would rank among the military's most deadly incidents involving civilians in decades. Congress created a special Pentagon office to prevent the accidental targeting of civilians but it was dramatically scaled back by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth soon after he took office last year.
"This investigation is ongoing. As we have said, unlike the terrorist Iranian regime, the United States does not target civilians," said White House spokesperson Anna Kelly.
The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.
NPR previously reported — based on commercial satellite imagery and independent expert analysis — that the strike was more extensive than initially reported and appeared consistent with a precision strike on a nearby military complex, raising questions about whether outdated targeting information contributed to the tragedy.
- Tom Bowman, Kat Lonsdorf, Geoff Brumfiel
Rebecca Rosman contributed to this report from Paris, Jane Arraf from Erbil, Iraq, Hadeel Al-Shalchi from Beirut, Daniel Estrin from Tel Aviv and Camila Domonoske, Tom Bowman, Kat Lonsdorf and Geoff Brumfiel from Washington.
Copyright 2026 NPR
Topline:
If you’re a soccer fan — or just a fan of South Korean phenom Son Heung-min — you may have heard that the Los Angeles Football Club planned to put up a larger-than-life mural of the footballer in Koreatown last month. But the mural has yet to appear.
More details: LAFC planned to reveal the mural during the launch of their 2026/2027 jersey at The LINE Hotel. Now the reveal has been pushed back to sometime in June.
Why now: The delay stems from issues with the city’s mural approval process, at least according to city officials.
Read on... for more about the mural of Son Heung-min.
The story first appeared on The LA Local.
If you’re a soccer fan — or just a fan of South Korean phenom Son Heung-min — you may have heard that the Los Angeles Football Club planned to put up a larger-than-life mural of the footballer in Koreatown last month. But the mural has yet to appear.
LAFC planned to reveal the mural during the launch of their 2026/2027 jersey at The LINE Hotel. Now the reveal has been pushed back to sometime in June.
The delay stems from issues with the city’s mural approval process, at least according to city officials.
Gabriel Cifarelli, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, said they received a mural registration application for the site. But the department said it could not issue a notice to proceed because the application was “ineligible and incomplete” under the city’s mural ordinance and administrative rules.
“DCA staff offered the applicant advice and further guidance, and remains available for questions,” Cifarelli said.
If a mural includes a team logo it is considered an advertisement and not original artwork, according to the city department. In that case, the permit must be issued through the city’s Building and Safety Department.
A new application has not been submitted through the mural program, Cifarelli said, and it was not immediately clear whether LAFC applied for a permit through the Building and Safety Department.
LAFC spokesperson Danny Sanchez didn’t confirm if a new permit has been submitted.
“The mural unveil was rescheduled to June to better align with World Cup festivities,” Sanchez said.
Dave Young Kim was commissioned to paint the mural and previously painted a Son mural on the side of the Crosby building in Koreatown in October, but that was only up for a few weeks.
He still plans to paint the mural on The LINE Hotel in June.
“I’m assuming at this point, LAFC is likely trying to line it up for a more opportune time,” said Kim. “The mural was originally supposed to line up with the launch of the new jersey so something similar.”
Leo Hernandez, 35, said he hopes the mural goes up before the World Cup.
“I didn’t know it was pushed back all the way to June,” he said. “I’ll be in Mexico for the World Cup.”
Hernandez, who goes by “El Soccer Guy” on Instagram and has nearly 50,000 followers, has been attending LAFC games since 2018. He said Son’s arrival to L.A. has brought a new wave of fans to the club.
“I’ve never seen so many Koreans,” he said. “He’s bringing a whole new community to LAFC. I don’t know if they love soccer or they love Son or both, but it’s amazing to see.”
“Son is starting to be my favorite on the team,” he added. “He’s so good. He wants the team to shine. And I love his positivity and energy.”
Topline:
There’s a lot of real Los Angeles mixed into the recent MCU series “Wonder Man,” now on Disney+, which makes for a version of the MCU that feels a little more grounded in reality, especially for Angelenos.
The context: Wonder Man is an action-comedy about two struggling actors also dealing with superhuman forces and secret government agencies — think The Studio meets Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It's part of the Marvel Universe, but also feels accessible to viewers not that familiar with the MCU. Showrunner Andrew Guest told LAist that was by design, and was helped by grounding the show in an realistic portrayal of life in Los Angeles.
Read on ... for more about the real L.A. locations featured in Season 1, and why a Season 2 (if it does happen) might film elsewhere.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is all about people with superpowers living in a world very much like our own.
And there’s a lot of real Los Angeles mixed into the recent MCU series “Wonder Man,” now on Disney+, which makes for a version of the MCU that feels a little more grounded in reality, especially for Angelenos.
It's an action-comedy about two struggling actors also dealing with superhuman forces and secret government agencies. Think The Studio meets Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Sir Ben Kingsley reprises his Iron Man 3 character Trevor Slattery, the messy British actor hired to play a bad guy called The Mandarin. And Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man.
Through their adventures trying to book the gig-of-a-lifetime while surviving the perils of the MCU, L.A. landmarks and cultural references abound, and ground the series in a relatability for many Angelenos, including lots of inside jokes for those working in the entertainment industry.
There’s a series of roughly 100-year-old small, independent movie houses used as locations in Wonder Man — the Eagle Theatre now home to Vidiots, Westwood's Village Theater now operated by American Cinematheque (with views of The Bruin Theater across the street), and the Highland Theatre which closed in 2024.
Speaking of iconic L.A. spots breaking local hearts, the vintage bar within Echo Park’s Taix French Restaurant was used as an interior location for the series. Taix is closing at the end of the month to make way for new development.
“Taix, the Highland Park Theatre — these places that it was only three years ago were there,” Wonder Man showrunner Andrew Guest told LAist, “a lot of these establishments sadly, are not surviving. And this town is in a rough, rough place.”
(Though actor/director Kristen Stewart recently said in an interview with Architectural Digest that she bought The Highland Theatre and is restoring the building.)
Traffic is part of life in Los Angeles and with so many scenes shot in Hollywood, even the main characters of Wonder Man must experience that bumper-to-bumper frustration.
Though, because it is a TV show, they were able to indulge in the fantasy of beating that traffic in a way that in reality would be highly dangerous (and illegal).
“We got to shut down Sunset Boulevard for a little while to shoot a car going onto the sidewalk in front of the Palladium,” said Guest. And surprisingly, he explained, they didn’t have to shoot in the middle of the night to make the shot happen: “That was Friday night…. We didn't close all lanes of traffic. The street was open. We were shooting while Los Angeles was still going strong.”
The scene also references the frequent traffic back up during big shows at the Hollywood Bowl, even earning the show a social media repost of the scene from Chaka Khan.
Wonder Man includes an episode titled Pacoima where the main character visits his family and childhood home.
“My wife grew up in Chatsworth, and one of the things I found fascinating about her experience growing up there was that many of her friends and their families never went to Los Angeles,” said Guest.
“The idea that Simon grew up close to, but far enough away that Hollywood and Los Angeles did not feel like they were part of his life…so when he moved to the city, Pacoima is not a place he goes to a lot. And I feel like that's a part of L.A. that is true to this city. That doesn't get explored a lot and felt like it was another detail that we got to sort of throw into the show.”
There’s lots of other Southern California. references to enjoy from the Talmadge Apartments, an historic renaissance revival building on Wilshire Blvd., a mural of Danny Trejo, and even a cameo from Gisellle Fernandes, real-life L.A. broadcaster for Spectrum 1 News.
Should you get lost in the multi-verse, at least this L.A will be pretty familiar.
Guest couldn’t confirm anything about a possible Season 2, but told LAist, “It’s still on the table as an option, potentially."
As for whether a potential Season 2 would also film in Los Angeles and continue to highlight the city in new ways, Guest said it’s occurred to him that one of the best ways to write about Hollywood could be “ to send our show somewhere else because everybody in this town who's working has to move — whether it be Budapest or London or Ireland or Vancouver — very little is actually happening in this town. And that’s a story that I don’t think is being told right now about L.A.”
Season 1 of ‘Wonder Man’ is now streaming on Disney+.
Watch Julia Paskin's interview with actor/comedian X Mayo, who plays Simon Williams' agent in 'Wonder Man':
