The Natural History Museum's newest exhibition, L.A. Underwater, explores the region when it was submerged about 15 million years ago.
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Courtesy of the Natural History Museum of L.A. County
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Topline:
The How To LA team shares a few traditions and tips for starting off 2024 on a good foot.
Why it matters (to LA): Many of the tips that the How To LA team shares are rooted in things you can do in Los Angeles.
The backstory: It’s finally that time of the year that people start doing family traditions and making resolutions: a brand new year. Whether you’re ready for 2024 to start, or you wish you had a few extra days, it’s coming quickly. The How To LA team is full of people who come from different cultures and backgrounds. Some members of the team share a few traditions and tips for starting off 2024 on a good foot.
It’s finally that time of the year when people start doing family traditions and making resolutions: a brand new year. Whether you’re ready for 2024 to start, or you wish you had a few extra days, it’s coming quickly. The How To LA team is full of people who come from different cultures and backgrounds.
Some members of the team share a few traditions and tips for starting off 2024 on a good foot.
Packing a suitcase
Brian De Los Santos, host
Tradition: “A lot of Latino families pack up a suitcase before the clock strikes 12,” Brian says. “As soon as it becomes midnight, you're supposed to run around the house at certain times that you want to travel throughout the year.”
Tip: “In the new year, I want to visit all of the L.A. County museums,” Brian says. “I found out through my reporting this year that there's a lot more to discover with museums. I'm going to try to hit up the Science Center, LACMA, again, and just other things I haven't done in years.
Exposition Park is filled with many community assets, from the California African American Museum to the Banc of California Stadium. Soon, it will be home to the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art as well.
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Carla Javier
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LAist
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Mopping out bad vibes
Victoria Alejandro, producer
Tradition: "I’m Puerto Rican,” Victoria says. “Every year on New Year's Eve my dad would mop the whole house and when the clock strikes midnight, you throw the dirty water out of the front door. And that represents getting rid of all of your negative energy from last year, and starting the year with a clean house and clean energy. So I think I'm going to do that this year, just get my apartment in order.”
Tip: “In the new year, I really want to spend more time downtown,” Victoria adds. “I found out recently that there are these free workshops at the Central Library downtown. And they like poetry and fiction and all of these like different arts. I want to take a workshop and just be in the community.”
Downtown L.A.'s Central Library.
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Wikimedia Commons
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Black Eyed Peas' good luck
Aaricka Washington, associate editor
Tradition: “I like to go over to a family member’s house because someone is definitely cooking Black Eyed Peas for good luck and collard greens to bring in more money either on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day,” Aaricka says. “It's a tradition rooted in the south. And as we know, a lot of Black Americans came from the South to the North and West, through the great migration and brought their traditions with them.”
Tip: “I’m going to do a physical and mental challenge called the 75 Hard starting on January 1st. There’s five daily tasks that you have to do for 75 days. I’m not recommending it because it’s not for everyone. It’s something I am personally doing. However, I think you should do whatever you feel like will be intentional for you to become the best version of yourself.”
Aaricka Washington, How To LA's associate editor, runs with Girl Gang Crazy on March 7, 2023 at Santa Monica College's Corsair Field.
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Raymond Eugenio
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Girl Gang Crazy
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12 grapes
Tony Morales, intern
Tradition: “My family eats grapes once midnight hits,” Tony says. “It’s 12 grapes each for a wish. So you're wishing for something for each grape. But leading up to New Year's when my family likes to do karaoke, you know, bringing that positive lively energy into the new year.”
Tip: "And in this new year, I would like to go biking more," Tony says. “I live in Huntington Park right there down in Florence. They're building a lot of new bike lanes, which is interesting, because the lanes are already really small. I want to use them and really explore the city with bikes."
Man rides bike down Western Ave for CicLAvia
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Ashley Balderrama for LAist
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To-do lists
Megan Botel, producer
Tip: “I see the new year as kind of a more dramatic version of the way I get when I start a new week or a new month and just really have things in order, meaning tie up all my loose ends,” Megan says. “I have a to-do list of stuff I don't want to do this week. I put in shelves. So I have like three or four more of those tasks that I plan to get done in the next couple of weeks. I just like to start the new year off clean, bright and calm. The way you start your year I think is like the way your year will go.”
Professional janitor cleaning parquet floor with mop indoors, closeup.
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Liudmila Chernetska
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Getty Images/iStockphoto
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Speaking of Zen, in this episode, you can learn more about how to practice calmness with a walking meditation. Listen to the latest How To LA podcast episode for more.
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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iStockphoto
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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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Dañiel Martinez
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LAist
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Topline:
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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Dañiel Martinez
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LAist
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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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Dañiel Martinez
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LAist
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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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Dañiel Martinez
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LAist
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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
Keep up with LAist.
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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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Courtesy 29 Loaves
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Topline:
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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Courtesy 29 Loaves
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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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Courtesy 29 Loaves
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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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Courtesy 29 Loaves
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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.
