The Brief

Every year, the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research asks thousands of California households about topics that influence health, the largest state survey of its kind in the U.S.

The findings of the 2024 California Health Interview Survey, which has just been released, show that nearly 14 million adults personally experienced a wildfire or were exposed to smoke from one.

The data only covers between 2022 and 2024, so it does not include the January fires. However, the responses show how blazes are detrimental to many aspects of our health.

Wildfires hurt our lungs

Among adults who experienced a wildfire in the past two years, nearly 10% said it hurt their physical health — that’s up slightly from 2023, according to the survey’s data dashboard AskCHIS.

For those who experienced wildfire smoke, a quarter of respondents said it affected them physically. Smoke showed to be a driving factor in asthmatic episodes, too.

“ We observed higher rates of having an asthma attack in the past 12 months among those who had experienced smoke from a wildfire in the past two years,” said Todd Hughes, director of the California Health Interview Survey.

That was about five percentage points higher compared to those who didn’t get exposed to wildfire smoke.

Mental health changes

The survey also looked beyond the physical to explore mental health effects.

Among adults, 1 in 6 who experienced wildfires in the past two years said it hurt their mental health, while 1 in 7 who dealt with smoke said they also struggled mentally.

“ These data reflect the respondent’s own self-assessment of any mental health impact,” Hughes said.

That’s why the team made sure to look at more objective measures as well.

They found that fire- or smoke-affected respondents had higher rates of serious psychological distress and visits to a professional for mental health and substance abuse issues.

Medical debt increases

Wildfires’ effect on medical debt also proved to be significant.

“ When there’s so many financial issues affecting families that are impacted by wildfires,” Hughes said, “we examine the relationship between medical debt and wildfires.”

Adults who experienced a wildfire in the past two years had higher rates of struggling to pay medical bills in the past 12 months. That’s just under 16% compared to 10% of those who didn’t experience a wildfire.

California State University officials have renewed the system's contract with OpenAI, a leading generative artificial intelligence company that has established business deals with universities across the country.

Under the renewed contract, the CSU will pay $13 million a year to use OpenAI’s ChatGPT college product for three years, “with the option to cancel annually with advance notice,” said CSU spokesperson Amy Bentley-Smith. The new agreement also expands access to 675,000 users (up from 500,000) and enables students to continue using the product up to one year after graduation.

University officials say providing access to quality AI tools is an equity issue and that the CSU needs to prepare students for the future.

But when ChatGPT was first implemented across the system, faculty raised concerns about AI’s toll on the environment. They also noted that chatbots have been known to generate inaccurate information and can have built-in racial and gender biases. Some students and faculty still refuse to use it.

According to Bentley-Smith, the CSU’s decision to renew the contract “was made following extensive evaluation and input from across the system. Our stakeholders, including the CSU’s Generative AI Advisory Committee and its three subcommittees unanimously recommended renewing the contract. ... This was not a one-time consultation, but an ongoing and iterative process intended to balance innovation, risk management and educational outcomes.”

"We recognize that artificial intelligence is a topic that has sparked important debate and a wide range of perspectives, and we take seriously the concerns expressed about the ethical and responsible use of AI,” Bentley-Smith added. She also noted that, under the new contract, “the per-subscriber cost is lower than during the first contract [with OpenAI] and substantially lower than the price offered by any other vendor.”

Public records obtained by LAist showed that under the system’s first contract with the company, CSU paid a much better rate than other universities, albeit for a lot more users — roughly $1.9 million dollars to make ChatGPT available to 40,000 users during the first six months of 2025. Then, from July 2025 to June 2026, the university system paid another $15 million to make the product available to 500,000 users.

The system is now carrying out 63 faculty-led projects, aiming to use AI to revamp pedagogy in everything from Japanese language instruction to computer science.

CONCORD, N.C. — Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion who won more races than anyone across NASCAR's three national series, has died. He was 41.

The Busch Family, Richard Childress Racing and NASCAR issued a joint statement Thursday saying that Busch died after being hospitalized. No cause of death was given.

Busch's family said earlier Thursday that he was hospitalized with a "severe illness," three days before he was to compete at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Busch was the younger brother of Kurt Busch, a NASCAR Hall of Famer.

"Our entire NASCAR family is heartbroken by the loss of Kyle Busch," the statement said. "A future Hall of Famer, Kyle was a rare talent, one who comes along once in a generation. He was fierce, he was passionate, he was immensely skilled and he cared deeply about the sport and fans.

The statement went on to say that "throughout a career that spanned more than two decades, Kyle set records in national series wins, won championships at NASCAR's highest level and fostered the next generation of drivers as an owner in the Truck Series. His sharp wit and competitive spirit sparked a deep emotional connection with race fans of every age, creating the proud and loyal 'Rowdy Nation.'"

The news comes 11 days after Busch radioed into his crew near the end of a Cup Series race at Watkins Glen asking a doctor to give him a "shot" after he finished the race. According to the TV broadcast, Busch had been struggling with a sinus cold that was exacerbated by the intense G-forces and elevation changes at the New York road course.

Busch finished the race in eighth place.

In this Nov. 17, 2019, file photo, Kyle Busch holds up the trophy in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series in Homestead, Fla.

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Busch competed at Dover last weekend and won the Trucks Series race for Richard Childress Racing. He finished 17th at the NASCAR All-Star race.

"Absolute shock. Very hard to process," veteran NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski posted on social media.

NASCAR driver and former teammate Denny Hamlin posted on social media: "Absolutely cannot comprehend this news. We just need to think of his family during this time. We love you KB."

A polarizing figure known as "Rowdy" and "Wild Thing" for his post-race fights, regular feuds with other drivers and sometimes outlandish behavior, the multi-talented Busch stormed on the Cup Series scene in 2005 by winning Rookie of the Year.

He went on to win championships in 2015 and 2019 for Joe Gibbs Racing.

From Las Vegas, Busch experienced unrivaled success across NASCAR's three national series winning a combined 234 Cup, O'Reilly Auto Parts and Trucks Series races. He had 63 Cup victories along with 102 O'Reilly Auto Parts wins and 69 Trucks victories — both records.

Kyle Busch was said to be ready to race at NASCAR's top level at 16, but a cigarette settlement banned his debut and he had to wait until he was a 18. At the time Kurt Busch said "if you think I'm good, wait until you see my brother."

Busch is survived by his wife Samantha and children Brexton and Lennix.
Copyright 2026 NPR

If there were such a thing as the perfect résumé for hosting The Great American Baking Show, Los Angeles-based actor, writer and comedian Casey Wilson (Happy Endings, SNL) might be the one to have it — despite the fact that she doesn’t bake

She has the sketch comedy and acting experience to pull off the show’s opening skits and introductions to the baking challenges. But also, when it comes to chatting with the bakers throughout the episodes, Wilson literally wrote a book (an audiobook, fittingly) titled The Art of Small Talk with fellow actor, writer and comedian Jessica St. Clair.

What’s unique about making small talk during the Baking Show, which Wilson has co-hosted for four seasons now for The Roku Channel — the latest with her friend and former Black Monday co-star Andrew Rannells (Girls, Another Simple Favor) — is making chit-chat with someone who’s trying to focus on making some elaborate cake, bread or pastry, and likely also pretty stressed.

“ In real life,” Wilson told LAist, “if you saw the emotional state of the people that are baking, you would immediately know, ‘Let me back up and allow them their space.’ Meanwhile, [the producers] are like, ‘Go on in.’ And Andrew and I always say, we're like, ‘Tell us about your grandpa.’”

Luckily, the contestants are good-natured about the whole thing. And Wilson and Rannells’ repartee with the contestants, each other and judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith just add to the overall good vibes of the competition — in keeping with the tradition of the much-beloved original British version of the show.

An added bonus of the American version is some of the cultural confusion that arises, like this exchange featured in the trailer about “box cake”:

Wilson spoke with LAist about what goes on behind the scenes of The Great American Baking Show (the latest season of which premiered on The Roku Channel on May 11) and her top picks for baked goods in Los Angeles.

LA bakeries to check out for non-bakers (and bakers who want a break)

When she’s home in L.A., Wilson says, she’s not so much into baking herself, but because of that, she knows where to go to get a good cake, dessert or bread. She offered this list of her top picks:

• SusieCakes (various locations) :  “I know now it's, like, a chain, but in L.A., I love SusieCakes, and I wanna shout it out. If you have forgotten someone's birthday, it's amazing to order on DoorDash and they have like this old-fashioned cake [...] and they'll write on it. […]  It's wonderful and truly the best cake and cupcakes."
• Lark Cake Shop (Silver Lake): “ Lark, which is a small bakery in Silver Lake; they have an ice box cake that is tremendous. It's incredible.”
• Claudine Kitchen & Bakeshop (Encino):  ”I live in Los Feliz, so that's a drive, and I will embark on it to get these s'mores bites. [...] If I have them, people are angry that I don't have more, and it's the greatest dessert ever.”
• Cake Monkey (Mid-City):  ”My son has celiac disease, so we're always trying to look for gluten-free, which is hard to find, you know, especially for a kid. [...] Cake Monkey is a bakery, more like a Mid-City area, and they have an incredible gluten-free triple berry cake that's great, and they just have a lot of gluten-free options that are awesome.”
•  Breadblok (Silver Lake): “It's all gluten-free breads, and they have some desserts too. They have a brown butter chocolate chip cookie that's wrong — should be illegal. But their breads are so good, and it's for everybody. People go there that aren't even gluten-free because it's just that good.”

The BTS of GBBO (and GABS)

The Great American Baking Show films at the same English countryside location and with the same crew as The Great British Bake Off (titled The Great British Baking Show in the U.S.), many of whom, Wilson explained, have been with the show since the beginning.

One thing Wilson said people are sometimes surprised to learn is that there are no retakes and the time constraints on the baking challenges are very real.

“It's very pure in that sense,” Wilson said. “They have exactly that amount of time. And even a couple times when it was time to say, ‘Bakers, your time is up,’ I would walk slowly 'cause I'd see somebody needing more time and [the producers] are like, 'We see you! Walk!'"

Another surprise to her, Wilson said: “You cannot believe how many camera people there are — I mean, 12 roaming at all times” to capture the bakers’ moves.“ It's kind of like The Truman Show, basically.”

And while you might assume that the short skits that she and Rannells film that introduce each episode’s theme are filmed all at once, they’re not. Instead, they’re always filmed in the early morning hours of the second day of each episode’s two-day shoot.

As for what happens during the week, when filming is done, Wilson explained, “ The poor bakers, they have to practice so much, so they're basically like hostages in their apartments, baking every second. But Andrew and I were a bit more footloose and fancy free, you might say. So we bopped around and we saw shows and we hung out a lot with Paul Hollywood, who I love, and it was just a dream.”

Walking into Mexican Monk Brew House, you're greeted by a space filled with natural light. Repurposed cathedral window frames hang as artwork alongside a few well-placed mirrors; Selena plays over the sound system.

A massive mural of its logo dominates an exposed concrete block wall. A robed monk dressed in a sombrero and serape, eyes closed, cradling a beer as an offering — an image that tells you immediately who this place is for and who built it.

The Mexican Monk Brewhouse mural that greets you inside the Paramount taproom.

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Located in the city of Paramount, Mexican Monk is an independently Latino-owned craft beer taproom, the first of its kind in the area. The space is the vision of independent craft brewer Ray "Ricky" Rivera, who has spent the past decade building toward this moment. He's partnered with David and Ashley Vazquez, who have operated Horchateria Rio Luna since 2016 — first at a smaller location, then in their current home in 2020 — the cafe next door where Mexican Monk now lives.

Mexican Monk is currently in its soft-opening phase, open Thursday through Sunday, with a grand-opening celebration planned for the coming weeks.

Ashley Vazquez, David Vasquez, and Ray "Ricky" Rivera inside Mexican Monk Brewhouse at Horchateria Rio Luna in Paramount.

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Half a mile away

Last summer, the city of Paramount found itself at the center of a national debate about who belongs when federal immigration agents massed near a Home Depot on Alondra Boulevard and the community spilled into the streets to meet them.

David Salinas is the second-generation owner of Paramount Barbers. He watched the raids ripple through the neighborhood in real time.

"Foot traffic wasn't happening. Everyone was just on alert," Salinas said. According to local business roundtable meetings he attended, commerce in the area dropped 20% to 30% on average in the aftermath. "For some smaller businesses, that became tough."

But even as the neighborhood absorbed the blow, something was already taking shape a few blocks away.

Crafting a partnership

Like a lot of things these days, the Brew House began with an exchange on Instagram. Rivera noticed that Vasquez had started offering beer at the cafe, specifically from Brujeria — a local, Latino-owned brewery in Pico Rivera — and sent him a DM. What followed was a series of visits, casual conversations, and eventually an unexpected pitch: Vasquez and his partners had an empty 1,400-square-foot room adjoining the cafe and were looking for someone to bring it to life.

Rivera had been sitting on the Mexican Monk concept for about five years — a robed monk in a sombrero, a brewer, a mythical figure with a whole backstory. He pitched it. Vasquez, who was born and raised in Paramount, loved it.

"We knew our city was underserved regarding cool, trendy spaces," Vasquez said, noting that residents have long made the drive to Long Beach, Orange County, or downtown Los Angeles to find what Mexican Monk is now bringing to their own backyard.

A pint of Sippin' Santos, Mexican Monk Brewhouse's Mexican-style lager, sits on the bar at the Paramount taproom.

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Rivera had a background in brewing, first as founder of the L.A.-based homebrew club SoCal Cerveceros, and then with his solo contract brewing operation Norwalk Brewhouse. Its flagship beer is named Bidi Bidi Blonde Blonde, a blonde ale named after the Selena classic.

Mexican Monk, he said, is the physical realization of what Norwalk Brewhouse was always building toward — a space where the culture isn't a footnote, it's the foundation.

What’s on the menu

The beer list reads like a who's who of the Latino craft beer world — there are six house brews contract-brewed locally, from Sippin' Santos, a Mexican-style lager, to La Blanca 1544, a Belgian-style witbier, all priced between $8- $9. The remaining taps and a curated can wall of 26 selections draw almost entirely from independent Latino-owned breweries across Southern California and beyond.

For food there's six different types of wings, including a spice-forward chorizo dry rub, a nutty salsa macha, and the standout of the bunch, the mole wings, whose chocolatey, earthy depth works surprisingly well with their slightly hop-forward West Blessed, especially after a proper dip in their house-made jalapeño ranch. The menu rounds out with nine-inch pizzas made with Mexican Monk lager dough and truffle fries.

Mole chicken wings with house-made jalapeño ranch alongside a Mexican Monk pint at the Paramount taproom.

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For barber David Salinas, Mexican Monk is a catalyst — the kind of anchor business that he hopes will inspire others.

"Ray and I talked, and we were saying there needs to be a little bit more," he said. "It can't just be his brewery for him to succeed. He needs a community around him."

That may be growing. When you walk through the door at Mexican Monk, what you find is something quieter and more durable than a protest or a headline. A city imagining what comes next, one pint or plate of wings at a time.