A photograph from Merrick Morton's 1980s series on L.A. gang and street life.
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Courtesy of Merrick Morton
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Topline:
In the 1980s few artists documented gang and street life in Los Angeles. Photographer Merrick Morton was one of the first to cement that era in history with his pictures of the men and women who lived it.
Why it matters: Morton wasn’t the only one putting attention on this slice of the Chicano experience during this time period. But, still, many people in the '80s weren’t exposed to the culture at this point.
Why now: His first solo show, “UN-REHEARSED” at Chinatown’s Eastern Projects gallery, exhibits cholos, Black gangs, guns, drugs, police brutality and other parts of L.A. history from period and beyond. He captures the violence but also the humanity of the communities.
The backstory: Morton is a homegrown Angeleno from the Valley and, before he began documenting cliques and gang life, he practiced photography at a state psychiatric hospital through a California grant that allowed people to interact with patients. (Some of those photos are showcased at the exhibit.)
Through his connections in his grant work, he was able to reach out to the California State Department of Corrections, which eventually led to meeting a correctional officer, Gerald Ivory, who allowed him to tag along as he visited parolees. That was Morton’s entryway to being in community with L.A. gang members and their families.
In the 1980s few artists documented gang and street life in Los Angeles. Photographer Merrick Morton was one of the first to cement that era in history with his pictures of the men and women who lived it.
His first solo show, “UN-REHEARSED” at Chinatown’s Eastern Projects gallery, exhibits cholos, Black gangs, guns, drugs, police brutality and other parts of L.A. history from that period and beyond. He captures the violence but also the humanity of these communities.
“For me, the most interesting part is some of the subjects that I shot going back to the '80s have actually shown up [at the gallery] and they've come in,” he says. Others “come in to see [photos of] their family. So, to me, that's the most exciting part of it.”
#276: Merrick Morton is one of the first people to document Chicano gang culture in L.A. He also photographed women in prison, Latinas at kickbacks, and people on death row. Almost all of his photos capture something that you might not expect: a tenderness, a realness. We meet up with Merrick at the Eastern Projects gallery in Chinatown, where an exhibit of his work titled "Un-Rehearsed" is on display,to talk about his art and how he started photographing these communities.
If you want to see some examples of his work, check out this article on LAist.com. Or - come see the free show in person! It's running until May 18th.
Photographer Merrick Morton Cemented 80s Gang Culture In History
#276: Merrick Morton is one of the first people to document Chicano gang culture in L.A. He also photographed women in prison, Latinas at kickbacks, and people on death row. Almost all of his photos capture something that you might not expect: a tenderness, a realness. We meet up with Merrick at the Eastern Projects gallery in Chinatown, where an exhibit of his work titled "Un-Rehearsed" is on display,to talk about his art and how he started photographing these communities.
If you want to see some examples of his work, check out this article on LAist.com. Or - come see the free show in person! It's running until May 18th.
Morton is a homegrown Angeleno from the Valley, and before he began documenting cliques and gang life, he practiced photography at a state psychiatric hospital through a California grant that allowed people to interact with patients. (Some of those photos are showcased at the exhibit.)
Through his connections in his grant work, he was able to reach out to the California State Department of Corrections, which eventually led to meeting a correctional officer, Gerald Ivory, who allowed him to tag along as he visited parolees. That was Morton’s entryway to being in community with L.A. gang members and their families.
Morton took portraits of people who ran with gangs like Elm Street, Venice Locos and Florencia 13, and photographed the events they were involved in, from hangouts and family barbecues to funerals and run-ins with police officers.
Photographer Merrick Morton captured all aspects of 1980s gang and street life in L.A.
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Courtesy of Merrick Morton
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Merrick Morton captured street photography and portraits of gang members in L.A. in the 1980s and on.
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Courtesy of Merrick Morton
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Morton wasn’t the only one putting attention on this slice of the Chicano experience during this time period. There were other artists in different media who elevated the culture, groups like Asco, Carlos Almaraz, and the folks at Self Help Graphics. Morton also credits artist John Valadez — who captured pachuco culture — as someone who exposed him to Chicano culture and art and influenced his work. But still, many people in the '80s weren’t exposed to the culture at this point.
A white photographer in Black and brown communities
He and Ivory who, Morton says, had become a friend, started by visiting East and South L.A. communities, first photographing portraits of folks at the Obregon Park rec center and later gaining trust to visit them at their homes or other hang out spots. He notes the probation officer and the photog definitely got looks when they started out documenting this.
“It was sort of interesting for us, too, because he's a Black guy, I'm a white guy, and people would sort of see us on the streets, too, and say, ‘Who are you?’” he says.
But Morton, a self-described shy guy, says he never wanted to overstep. He knew how he could be perceived as a stranger, and a white man in his 30s, usually dealing with people of color who were younger than him. One of his advantages, says Morton, was it wasn’t common for folks to have a camera on them, like it is nowadays with iPhones. Many people just didn’t have photos of themselves or their homies.
Eventually, his photography of the communities lowered down walls.
Photographer Merrick Morton also captured the joy in gang communities.
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Courtesy of Merrick Morton
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People like to be photographed. It's because it's showing themselves and it's showing their neighborhood, and it's really showing their culture.
— Merrick Morton, photographer
In the photographs, some subjects are covered in tattoos, with stoic gazes and soft eyes. Other pictures capture youngsters hanging out — maybe experiencing some type of joy — even for a moment. There’s also a glimpse of '80s and '90s fashion choices, especially with the ladies’ bangs and signature eyeliner eyebrows.
Hollywood work
This led to other publishing work. Morton's photographs were featured in LA Weekly and Rolling Stone — again, at a time when mainstream media wasn’t reporting on the humanity of these communities. Eventually, more people began to pay attention.
His photographs caught the attention of Hollywood. Morton was tapped to work as a consultant and set photographer for movies like La Bamba,” Fight Club and Blood In, Blood Out. He’s worked on dozens of films, as well as TV sets, for more than two decades, and those photos of Brad Pitt and other actors are also in the exhibition at Eastern Projects.
One of the bigger frames at the gallery holds a black and white portrait of a young Richard Cabral, “The Mayans” actor who was previously a gang member. Cabral had come through Homeboy Industries and Morton later met him on a film set, photographing him in 2011. Both have an upcoming project that features Cabral’s poetry and Morton’s visuals, in a documentary-style view of East L.A.
Morton’s work also took him to Mexico and Cuba to document those gangs, too.
“Sometimes people will say that, ‘Hey, you're exploiting violence … there are certain images of people holding guns or drugs,’” he says, “but I think for me, it's more about creating the dialogue to talk about these things."
Keeping the images alive
It hasn’t been easy to continue publishing these historic images. Morton's had film and photography confiscated by officials before. And when social media became part of our lives, Morton gravitated to Instagram. He began publishing his photos on that platform, gaining attention once again — the good and bad. Instagram ended up taking down his account three times or deleting pictures off his feed, most times saying that his images depicted violence.
The experience has been, to say the least, frustrating for Morton. He feels that sometimes the decision to take something down seems based on race, and that white people being photographed with their guns on an account like the NRA’s get a pass, he says.
“Sometimes it seems it's racial, what [social media platforms] go after,” Morton says. “Compared to if you're white, it seems you have a little more latitude, what you can put in.”
But he’s back on Instagram, and he stays because that’s how he is able to connect with his subjects or their families years later.
A group of eight Latino young men and boys throwing up gang signs in front of a car at a park.
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Courtesy of Merrick Morton
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At the gallery, he showed me a photo on the wall of a woman from the '80s. She was dipping a cigarette into PCP (angel dust) among friends at a kickback. Then, he brings out his phone to show me another picture. It's the same woman from the photo, decades older, at his gallery show wearing a brightly colored traditional Mexican blouse and holding a sobriety chip.
Same person, different image, different life.
This might have not been the intention for Morton at the time he took her photo, but it seemed like a 180-degree moment, at least for this woman. It felt like a part of history, her history.
Merrick Morton's photography book, Clique: West Coast Portraits from the Hood, is available now and his work will be displayed at Eastern Projects until May 18. I recommend you see it.
Rene Lynch
is a senior editor for Orange County, including food trends, politics — and whatever else the news gods have in store.
Published February 11, 2026 5:25 PM
Record winter rains led to this colorful explosion near the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve back in April 2023.
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George Rose
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Getty Images
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Topline
This on-and-off rain is looking like good news ... for wildflower lovers.
Why now: We talked to Katie Tilford, a wildflowers expert at the Theodore Payne Foundation here in L.A., which is dedicated to native plants in California. And she is holding out hope that the rains this week and next will be just what we need to see California poppies and more bloom big in the upcoming weeks.
The wildflower forecast: "A little more rain would be nice," she said, "Then I think we’ll have a really good bloom this year. Either way, I think there’s going to be some flowers for sure … but a little more rain would really just kick things up a notch.”
How good might it get? And as for the question we always ask this time of year … will it be a superbloom kind of year? Only Mother Nature knows for sure. But Tilford says she’s already seeing signs there will be plenty of wildflowers to enjoy in the coming weeks, so you might want to make a plan to get out there.
This on-and-off rain is looking like good news ... for wildflower lovers.
We talked to Katie Tilford, our go-to wildflowers expert at the Theodore Payne Foundation here in L.A., which is dedicated to native plants and wildflowers in Southern California.
And she is holding out hope the rains this week and next will be just what we need to see California poppies and more bloom big in the upcoming weeks.
"A little more rain would be nice," she said, "Then I think we’ll have a really good bloom this year. Either way, I think there’s going to be some flowers for sure … but a little more rain would really just kick things up a notch.”
And as for the question we always ask this time of year … will it be a superbloom kind of year?
Only Mother Nature knows for sure. We plant nerds also know that that the term superbloom gets thrown around with regularity during wildflower season, even though it refers to very specific conditions created by a potent cocktail of early rains, cool temps, hot temps, and late rains. So, we repeat: Stay tuned.
But Tilford says she’s already seeing signs there will be plenty of wildflowers to enjoy in the coming weeks, so you might want to make a plan to get out there.
Another great resource is also the wildflower hotline hosted by Theodore Payne. Starting in March, it will be updated each Friday with the latest wildflower news and tips on where to see it all. Call: 818 768-1802, Ext. 7.
Frank Stoltze
is a veteran reporter who covers local politics and examines how democracy is and, at times, is not working.
Published February 11, 2026 5:06 PM
A fallen tree on the sidewalk at the intersection of Olympic Boulevard and Hope Street in Los Angeles on April 21, 2025.
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Kavish Harjai
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LAist
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Topline:
A man who sparked outrage in downtown Los Angeles last year after using a chainsaw to cut down about a dozen streetside trees was sentenced to two years in prison.
Why now: Samuel Patrick Groft, 45, was sentenced Wednesday after pleading no contest to nine felony counts of vandalism and two misdemeanor counts of vandalism in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
The case against him: Groft sometimes hacked away at large, decades-old trees in the middle of the night, and for others, he wielded a cordless power saw on busy sidewalks in broad daylight, according to surveillance videos reviewed by the Los Angeles Police Department. Neighborhood outrage continued to grow as the destruction continued over the course of at least five days beginning April 17 until his arrest April 22 — Earth Day.
The damage caused: LAist’s media partner CBS LA reported that witnesses at trial estimated there was nearly $350,000 in damage caused to city- and privately owned trees. At the time, Zach Seidl, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office, described the incident as “truly beyond comprehension.”
What's next: Groft was ordered to pay restitution, a hearing for which is set for April 15.
Keep up with LAist.
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An annual meeting of the nation's governors that has long served as a rare bipartisan gathering is unraveling after President Donald Trump excluded Democratic governors from White House events.
More details: The National Governors Association said it will no longer hold a formal meeting with Trump when governors are scheduled to convene in Washington later this month, after the White House planned to invite only Republican governors. On Tuesday, 18 Democratic governors also announced they would boycott a traditional dinner at the White House.
Why it matters: The governors' group, which is scheduled to meet from Feb. 19-21, is one of the few remaining venues where political leaders from both major parties gather to discuss the top issues facing their communities. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that Trump has "discretion to invite anyone he wants to the White House."
Read on... for what this means for the group and what happened last year at the White House meeting.
An annual meeting of the nation's governors that has long served as a rare bipartisan gathering is unraveling after President Donald Trump excluded Democratic governors from White House events.
The National Governors Association said it will no longer hold a formal meeting with Trump when governors are scheduled to convene in Washington later this month, after the White House planned to invite only Republican governors. On Tuesday, 18 Democratic governors also announced they would boycott a traditional dinner at the White House.
"If the reports are true that not all governors are invited to these events, which have historically been productive and bipartisan opportunities for collaboration, we will not be attending the White House dinner this year," the Democrats wrote. "Democratic governors remain united and will never stop fighting to protect and make life better for people in our states."
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican who chairs the NGA, told fellow governors in a letter on Monday that the White House intended to limit invitations to the association's annual business meeting, scheduled for Feb. 20, to Republican governors only.
"Because NGA's mission is to represent all 55 governors, the Association is no longer serving as the facilitator for that event, and it is no longer included in our official program," Stitt wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press.
The governors' group, which is scheduled to meet from Feb. 19-21, is one of the few remaining venues where political leaders from both major parties gather to discuss the top issues facing their communities. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that Trump has "discretion to invite anyone he wants to the White House."
"It's the people's house," she said. "It's also the president's home, so he can invite whomever he wants to dinners and events here at the White House."
Representatives for Sitt and the NGA didn't comment on the letter. Brandon Tatum, the NGA's CEO, said in a statement last week that the White House meeting is an "important tradition" and said the organization was "disappointed in the administration's decision to make it a partisan occasion this year."
In his letter to other governors, Stitt encouraged the group to unite around common goals.
"We cannot allow one divisive action to achieve its goal of dividing us," he wrote. "The solution is not to respond in kind, but to rise above and to remain focused on our shared duty to the people we serve. America's governors have always been models of pragmatic leadership, and that example is most important when Washington grows distracted by politics."
Signs of partisan tensions emerged at the White House meeting last year, when Trump and Maine's Gov. Janet Mills traded barbs.
Trump singled out the Democratic governor over his push to bar transgender athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports, threatening to withhold federal funding from the state if she did not comply. Mills responded, "We'll see you in court."
Trump then predicted that Mills' political career would be over for opposing the order. She is now running for U.S. Senate.
The back-and-forth had a lasting impact on last year's conference and some Democratic governors did not renew their dues last year to the bipartisan group.
Copyright 2026 NPR
Gov. Gavin Newsom answers questions at the California Department of Veterans Affairs after signing a bill that prohibits unaccredited private companies from billing former military service members for help with their claims, in Sacramento on Feb. 10, 2026.
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Penny Collins
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NurPhoto via AP
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Topline:
Many veterans turn to private companies for help filing disability claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs and then face bills that run well into the thousands of dollars.
About the new law: A booming industry that charges veterans for help in obtaining the benefits they earned through military service must shut down or dramatically change its business model in California by the end of the year under a new law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Tuesday. The law prohibits unaccredited private companies from billing former military service members for help with their Department of Veterans Affairs claims.
The backstory: Technically, it was already illegal under federal law to charge veterans for that work, but Congress 20 years ago removed criminal penalties for violations, and scores of private companies emerged, offering to speed up and maximize benefit claims.
Read on... for more about the new law.
A booming industry that charges veterans for help in obtaining the benefits they earned through military service must shut down or dramatically change its business model in California by the end of the year under a new law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Tuesday.
The law prohibits unaccredited private companies from billing former military service members for help with their Department of Veterans Affairs claims.
Technically, it was already illegal under federal law to charge veterans for that work, but Congress 20 years ago removed criminal penalties for violations, and scores of private companies emerged, offering to speed up and maximize benefit claims.
“We owe our veteran community a debt of gratitude — for their years of service and sacrifice," Newsom said in a written statement. "By signing this bill into law, we are ensuring veterans and service members get to keep more money in their pockets, and not line the coffers of predatory actors. We are closing this federal fraud loophole for good.”
Critics call the private companies “claim sharks” because their fees are often five times the monthly benefit increase veterans obtain after using their services. CalMatters in September, for instance, interviewed a Vietnam-era veteran who was billed $5,500 after receiving benefits that would pay him $1,100 a month.
Depending on a disability rating, a claim consulting fee under that model could easily hit $10,000 or more.
“We owe it to our veterans to stand with them and to protect them from being taken advantage of while navigating the benefits they've earned,” said Sen. Bob Archuleta, a Democrat representing Norwalk. Archuleta, a former Army officer, carried the legislation. “This is not about politics; it's about doing what's right. Making millions of dollars on the back of our veterans is wrong. They've earned their benefits. They deserve their benefits.”
California’s new law is part of a tug-of-war over how to regulate claims consulting companies. Congress for several years has been at a stalemate on whether to ban them outright, allow them to operate as they are or regulate them in some other way.
California is among 11 states that have moved to put the companies out of business, while another group of mostly Republican-led states has legalized them, according to reporting by the veteran news organization The War Horse.
That split in some ways reflects the different ways veterans themselves view the companies. The bill had overwhelming support from organizations that help veterans file benefits claims at no cost, such as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, as well as from Democratic Party leaders, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco.
But the VA’s claims process can take months and sow uncertainty among applicants. Several of the claims consulting companies say they have helped tens of thousands of veterans across the country, and that they have hundreds of employees.
Those trends led some lawmakers to vote against the measure, including Democrats with military backgrounds.
“We're going to say to you, ‘Veteran, you know what, I don't know if you are too stupid or too vulnerable or your judgment is so poor you can't choose yourself,'” said Sen. Tom Umberg, a Democrat and former Army colonel, during a debate over the measure last month.
The new law was such a close call for lawmakers that nine of 40 senators did not vote on it when it passed that chamber last month, which counts the same as a “no” vote but avoids offending a constituency that the lawmaker wants to keep.
It was also one of the 10 most-debated measures to go before the Legislature last year, according to the CalMatters Digital Democracy database. Lawmakers spent 4 hours and 39 minutes on the bill at public hearings in 2025 and heard testimony from 99 speakers.
Two claims consulting companies spent significant sums hiring lobbyists as they fought the bill, according to state records. They were Veterans Guardian, a North Carolina-based company that spent $150,000 on California lobbyists over the past two years; and Veterans Benefit Guide, a Nevada-based company that spent $371,821 lobbying on Archuleta’s bill and a similar measure that failed in 2024.
Those companies view laws like California’s as an existential threat. Both have founders with military backgrounds. Veterans Benefit Guide sued to block New Jersey’s law prohibiting fees for veterans claim consulting, and a federal appeals court sided with the company last year.
"This was the hardest bill I’ve had to work on since I’ve been in the Legislature," said Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo, a Santa Clarita Democrat who supported the law. "We know why that is, because there was so much money on the other side."
Charlotte Autolino, who organizes job fairs for former military service members as the chairperson of the Veterans Employment Committee of San Diego, criticized Newsom’s decision to sign the law. She spoke to CalMatters on behalf of Veterans Benefit Guide.
“The veterans lose,” she said. They lose the option. You’re taking an option away from them and you’re putting all of the veterans into one box, and that to me is wrong.”
But David West, a Marine veteran who is Nevada County’s veterans service officer, commended Newsom. West was one of the main advocates for the new law.
“The veterans of California are going to know that when (Newsom) says he’s taking care of everybody, he’s including us; that he values those 18- and 19-year-olds who are raising their hands, writing a blank check in the form of their lives; to then ensure that they aren’t writing checks to access their benefits,” West said.
