The Brief

I don't know about you, but I am barely dragging myself across the finish line of 2023.

So when the convo in my friends' group chat turned to talk of a signature cocktail to ring for 2024 (my friend group does an "elevated potluck" for the occasion) my first reaction was: I. Just. Can't.

Or could I?

Could I do something simple and easy — ideally inexpensive — and something that could use up some of the alcohol I already had? (The holidays tapped me out, people!) And could there be a mocktail version that wouldn't leave out the non drinkers, like my husband?

Sure, I could try to spend days of my life making my own elderflower liquor or searching our shrub bitters for mocktails-into-cocktails that would no doubt be delicious. In fact, I might resolve to do just that in the new year. But right now? I want e-a-s-y.

Bringing in the big guns

That's when I decided to bring in reinforcements. I turned to Anna Lisa, the L.A.-based recipe creator behind the Trader Joe's 5 Items or Less website (and its 487,000 strong Instagram account) and author of the Trader Joe's 5 Ingredients or Less cookbook. I put the challenge to her.

Her solution was so blissfully simple that we both chuckled at her answer, and her advice: Don't try to reinvent the wheel.

She suggested I look no further than the beverage aisle at any supermarket in America, which will bulge with fizzy alcohol-free drinks. (The market share for bubbly sodas, seltzers and waters has gone through the roof since the pandemic.)

They're fairy inexpensive, and they make the perfect starting point for a mocktail that can transform into a cocktail, with the addition of some spirits, syrups and citrus and perhaps fruit, in any DIY combo that sounds appealing, she said.

1. Start with your favorite fizzy flavors

Since she is the Trader Joe's Queen, she suggested trying their line of apple cider vinegar sodas, which come in lemon and strawberry, ginger and lemon, and elderberry and pomegranate. (And in case you are wondering, no, they don't taste like you are chugging apple cider vinegar. They are light and slighly sweet, with no added sugar. The perfect blank canvas for a cocktail.)

But really, any fizzy sodas and waters you find at your local market can be subbed in here, as long as you start with a base flavor that you like.

2. Add a dash of syrup or a bitter

Next up, add a syrup or a bitter if you've got one on hand, or skip if you don't.

If you do have a syrup in your liquor cabinet, this may be the place to start building your drink's flavor profile so you are using what you've got.

3. Make it pretty

Then, think about accents. Lime? Lemon? Orange slices? Cherries? A strawberry sliced through the bottom so it can perch on the rim of a glass?

4. Spiked, or not?

Finally, if desired, add alcohol. "Vodka has very little taste to it, so it goes with everything," Lisa said. But tequila could work. Gin, too. Or a ginger beer?

5. For extra credit...

Bonus points if you channel a stylist's eye to the beverage area at the party, and serve drinks in pretty glasses or copper cups. Don't forget drink charms so no one confuses one drink with another (one of the downsides of trying to serve a signature drink for all.)

Mostly, though, she advised that party throwers just relax. "Don’t stress too much about it," she said. "Everyone is there to have fun and have a good time. Whatever you serve will be fine."

This laid back advice is based on hard won experience.

'Real cooking'?

Lisa started her website just two years ago — and only after dragging her feet and worrying whether anyone would read it. "My biggest fear was that people were going to be like... that's not real cooking!" she said.

But she was a tired wife and mom to a 2-year-old and a newborn, and trying to get dinner on the table each night was an endless chore. She found herself searching again and again for easy dinner recipes. And Trader Joe's was a go-to destination in part because it's compact size means "not a lot of choices for my mom brain." And then she remembered hearing the adage, "If you can't find it, create it."

And that's how she came up with the idea for the popular website that uses TJ's to find ingredients that can be mixed and matched into quick, easy and delicious meals. (In case you are wondering, she said she has no affiliation with TJ's, and has never heard from management there.) She is currently at work on a second cookbook and looking for a publisher.

'Enjoy yourself'

"I think people are intested in, 'Is it easier? Is it going to improve my life?'" Lisa said. "Nobody cares that it's not an hour-long dish that took 20 ingredients to prepare.

"As long as it makes you happy and you enjoy it, that's good for your mental health. Just take it easy and enjoy yourself."

She was talking about her philosophy for the daily dinner-time struggle, but it also served as cocktail advice for me.

And, now that I think of it, these are words of wisdom for all of us as we drag ourselves over the finish line and into a new year.

Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said Thursday that he will run for Senate Majority Leader in the next Congress, setting up a challenge to Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer after the party swept to power in the midterm elections.

Van Hollen said in a statement that “the American people called for change” and that is why he is running.

“It’s now on us to meet this moment, and to do that we need new leadership,” Van Hollen said. “This is not about any one person — it’s about answering the call of the American people. That is why I’m running for Senate Majority Leader.”

Van Hollen’s challenge comes after he said he was considering a bid and after Schumer has said he has the necessary support to win. The closed-door, secret-ballot election will be held in early December.

The race will be the first contested election for Democratic leader in decades. The question of whether to reelect Schumer has already divided the caucus and many senators will not say publicly how they will vote. They have privately deliberated about what message to take from the election, and Schumer recruited many of the party’s winning candidates and raised money for them.

Schumer has been talking to Democratic senators since the election about forming an agenda for 2027.

“I’m going to win it,” Schumer told The Associated Press in an interview last week.

The Los Angeles Unified School District may lease spaces in its elementary, middle and high schools to use as childcare spaces for babies. 

The district is putting together a list of qualified providers and looking to identify spaces it could lease.

Ranae Amezquita, executive director of the district’s early childhood education division, said once the district has a list of spaces, it will start a request for proposal process that childcare providers can apply to during the 2027-2028 school year.

Why is LAUSD looking to expand childcare options now?

In April, LAUSD board members passed a resolution in an aim to expand childcare and early education slots in the district.

The district currently runs about 90 preschools, called early education centers, for children 2 to 4 years old, but it has only four centers that serve children under 2. “The problem with infant care — the reason we can't open them ourself at this time, is because of the cost,” said Amezquita at a board meeting Thursday.

The need for local infant and toddler childcare is high. In 2022, L.A. County assessed that the county only had enough licensed spaces to care for 4% of kids under 2. At the same time, the district has been facing declining enrollment amid lower birth rates. The resolution to expand early childhood care aims to, in part, strengthen the enrollment pipeline into the district.

Learn more about affordable childcare in LA

• For many California parents, paying for childcare means racking up credit card debt
• Why childcare in California may get harder to find

In an extraordinary turn of events, the state’s judicial watchdog has removed Judge Robert Draper, 84, from the Los Angeles County Superior Court after 14 years of service. He faced several counts of misconduct prior to losing reelection earlier this year.

The California Commission on Judicial Performance concluded Tuesday in an 87-page decision that Draper engaged in 17 instances of behavior that made him no longer fit for office. He hasn’t heard a case since 2023 because of the issues.

“Judge Draper persistently violated the standards governing judicial behavior and engaged in extensive and severe misconduct,” the commission said in a statement, adding that it was “aggravated by his refusal to accept responsibility for his misconduct, and his lack of insight or remorse for his misconduct and its effect on others.”

Draper previously admitted to some of the claims and denied others in interviews with LAist earlier this year. In a statement this week, he called the decision “deeply disappointing.”

“Any individual put under such intense and meticulous scrutiny likely would find themselves in a similar situation, albeit with slightly different facts,” he said.

Draper said the investigation came at a time when he raised concerns within the judiciary, and that it was used “presumably for purposes of dismissing his dissent by discrediting him.”

He plans to pursue “other avenues” to change the system, according to the statement. Draper's attorney declined to share what those would be.

 “It’s very rare for a judge to be removed from the bench,” said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School. “It’s the ultimate sanction against a judge.”

The commission has only removed 15 judges since it gained the authority to do so in 1995, according to its records, with the last for an L.A. County Superior Court judge happening in 2006.

The misconduct

The decision comes after a yearslong investigation and legal proceedings with independent evaluators. Prior to that, Draper had never been disciplined. According to the commission, his long list of misconduct includes:

• Making “offensive” and “insensitive” comments in court about race and gender.
• Sending “abusive” emails and unnecessary graphic pictures of his naked backside to colleagues.
• Acting with “deliberate defiance of his presiding judge’s orders” by continuing to access court systems and work on cases while on involuntary leave.

Some allegations the commission reviewed were dismissed for lack of evidence, including one that he inappropriately touched an attorney’s hair.

What happens next

While Draper lost reelection, his seat is now empty sooner than usual. Judge-elect Tal Khan Valbuena is on deck to replace him in January.

It’s possible Gov. Gavin Newsom may decide to appoint Khan Valbuena sooner. The court could also move another judge into his department.