The sign for The Conga Room at LA Live, its second location in Los Angeles. The nightclub closes March 27 after 25 years.
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Diana Connolly via Flicker
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Topline:
After 25 years of headlining Latin and international acts from all over the world, the Conga Room closes its doors this week.
Why it matters: Other Latin music clubs existed in L.A., but the vibe of the Conga Room was new to the city in the late 90s. The LA Times described it as having “two things most [salsa clubs] didn’t: money and taste.” Founded by real-estate developer Brad Gluckstein in 1998, Jennifer Lopez, Sheila E., Jimmy Smits, and Paul Rodriguez were among the initial investors,
Why now: A closing night party will be held on March 27th, hosted by Smits and Rodriguez. The music-filled event will include performances by Salsa legend Gilberto Santa Rosa, and a jam session led by Jerry Rivera, Andy Vargas, and Reggaetón sensation BLESSD.
What's next: The music of the Conga Room lives on through the non profit Conga Kids, which provides dance and music throughout 18 school districts in the L.A. area.
“We're into this thing called the Conga Kids, which is serving many Los Angeles schools with bringing music and culture to young people,” Smits says. “So it's like another generation passing down to another generation.”
A place to discover Latin artists and dance salsa or bachata all night, the Conga Room, founded by entrepreneur Brad Gluckstein, became a Los Angeles institution, backed with some major star power.
Jennifer Lopez, Sheila E., Jimmy Smits, and Paul Rodriguez were among the initial investors and at least two of them occasionally performed in the space.
Conga Room founder Brad Gluckstein stands between early investors in the nightclub, actor Jimmy Smits and comedian Paul Rodriguez
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Eddie Sakaki
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Conga Room
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The backstory
Other Latin music clubs existed in L.A., but the vibe of the Conga Room was new to the city in the late 90s. The L.A. Times described it as having “two things most [salsa clubs] didn’t: money and taste.”
It first opened on Wilshire Boulevard in 1998 with Celia Cruz headlining the intimate venue with the hit “Que Le Den Candela.”
Celia Cruz performs at the Conga Room
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Courtesy of the Conga Room
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Attendees over the years could catch acts ranging from Tito Puente to Ivy Queen to Bad Bunny, and performers of other genres also came across the stage. The venue shifted from salsa club to pan-Latin and world music.
In the 90s, you might have seen South African trumpeter Hugh Masekala, as well as Prince play the Conga Room. Private events included the post-Grammy win party for Carlos Santana, where a dinner of 125 attendees sang “Las Mañanitas” to Edward James Olmos for his birthday.
The space was “old Havana for the new millennium,” Gluckstein says.
By 2008, the Conga Room had outgrown its Miracle Mile location and moved to a larger space, downtown, at LA Live. More artists, including Black Eyed Peas rapper and producer will.i.am were brought on as investors. The new venue was nearly three times as large, with a VIP area, and a lot more parking. Food was “nueva Latina” cuisine and the “pan-Latin” interior was designed in collaboration with artists Jorge Pardo and Sergio Arau.
The venue was all the rage.
“You get 1100 people in a room listening to some beautiful Latin sounds…It's going to be more than lively,” says actor and Conga Room investor Jimmy Smits with a laugh.
#257: Today, we’re saying goodbye to a space with a storied legacy in this city — the Conga Room. The Latin nightclub opened in 1998, and brought in artists ranging from Celia Cruz and Tito Puente to Maluma and Bad Bunny. The club’s star studded list of investors included Jennifer Lopez, Sheila E., comedian Paul Rodriguez, and actor Jimmy Smits. This week, the Conga Room is closing its doors.
#257: Today, we’re saying goodbye to a space with a storied legacy in this city — the Conga Room. The Latin nightclub opened in 1998, and brought in artists ranging from Celia Cruz and Tito Puente to Maluma and Bad Bunny. The club’s star studded list of investors included Jennifer Lopez, Sheila E., comedian Paul Rodriguez, and actor Jimmy Smits. This week, the Conga Room is closing its doors.
The Conga Room was a place to be in L.A. LAist’s Cynthia Covarrubias, senior human resources generalist, says she would go to the Wilshire location as “a young, professional Latina trying to find [her] place in the club world.”
Besides, her roommate at the time “really wanted to meet Jennifer Lopez.”
Why it's closing
The reasons this beloved venue are closing are two-fold.
As Gluckstein puts it, some of the reasons behind the venue’s closure are obvious — the effects of the pandemic and the economy. Rising rents at LA Live coupled with changes in music booking trends also meant the Conga Room wasn’t seeing the numbers it was used to.
“A staple of our venue was being able to attract international artists in a small venue,” says Gluckstein. But post pandemic, Gluckstein says, “royalties and other means of survival for the artists were tougher.” Artists who would normally stop by the Conga Room couldn’t afford a smaller stop on a tour, and there weren’t enough private events coming through the space to make it profitable.
The venue will be closing up in style, however, with a friends and family celebration on March 27th, hosted by Smits and Paul Rodriguez. The music-filled event will include performances by Salsa legend Gilberto Santa Rosa, and a jam session led by Jerry Rivera, Andy Vargas, and Reggaetón sensation BLESSD.
“I opened the Conga Room because I was a salsa aficionado, you know, I lived and died for it,” says Gluckstein.
Tito Puente performs on stage at the Conga Room
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Courtesy of the Conga Room
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Despite the sadness and nostalgia conjured up around the closure, Gluckstein is still finding joy in salsa, and in bringing music to classrooms around Southern California.
There’s a passing of the torch with the non profit Conga Kids, also founded by Gluckstein in 2016.
“We're into this thing called the Conga Kids, which is serving many Los Angeles schools with bringing music and culture to young people,” Smits says. “So it's like another generation passing down to another generation.”
LA students that are part of the Conga Kids program
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Eddie Sakaki
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Courtesy of the Conga Room
)
What's next
Conga Kids brings music and dance from the African diaspora, where Latin music has roots, to 18 school districts across Southern California. That includes dances and genres like merengue, cumbia, salsa, and hip-hop. It’s got programs specific to 4th and 5th grades but includes school assemblies and family workshops for students in both elementary and middle school. Schools can request the Conga Kids program online through its website.
Working with the dancers, musicians, and artists in the Conga Kids program means “it's hard to be sad,” says Gluckstein.
And Smits adds that the Conga Room will "live on because music lives on, and music transcends everything.”
David Wagner
covers housing in Southern California, where a massive post-fire rebuilding effort is underway.
Published April 1, 2026 4:44 PM
Fencing lines a sidewalk next to a home under construction.
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Erin Stone
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LAist
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Topline:
As Los Angeles homeowners grapple with the expense of rebuilding after last year’s devastating fires, an L.A. City Council member is putting forward an idea that could lower some costs.
Who’s behind it: Councilmember Traci Park, who represents the Pacific Palisades, has introduced a motion to explore waiving part of the city’s portion of the local sales tax for fire victims who purchase rebuilding materials in the city.
The details: The plan calls for returning the 1% of the local 9.75% sales tax that goes into the city’s general fund. The waiver could apply to lumber, appliances and other rebuilding goods purchased within the city.
Read on … to learn whether economists think the proposed tax relief could make a difference.
As Los Angeles homeowners grapple with the expense of rebuilding after last year’s devastating fires, an L.A. City Councilmember is putting forward an idea that could lower some costs.
Councilmember Traci Park, who represents the Pacific Palisades, has introduced a motion to explore waiving part of the city’s portion of the local sales tax for fire victims who purchase rebuilding materials in the city.
The 1% of the local 9.75% sales tax that goes into the city’s general fund would be given back to consumers under the proposal. The waiver could apply to lumber, appliances and other rebuilding goods purchased within the city.
The motion, introduced Friday by Park and seconded by Councilmember John Lee, says: “The City should do everything within its power to alleviate the financial burden for these residents and businesses in order to facilitate their return and stabilize the Pacific Palisades community.”
Would it make much of a difference?
Economists told LAist the proposal could help many homeowners mitigate the high cost of rebuilding, but likely wouldn’t tip the scales for under-insured, under-resourced property owners.
“It wouldn't hurt if it's very well designed and easy to use,” said Alexander Meeks, a director at the Santa Monica-based Milken Institute. “But I'm not sure if it's really going to tackle the scale of the financial challenge that survivors are facing.”
Meeks noted that the tax waiver wouldn’t lower up-front costs such as environmental testing, architectural design and permitting. And it may not help homeowners sourcing raw materials from outside the city.
Zhiyun Li, a UCLA Anderson School of Management economist, said the waiver could help some homeowners justify the additional cost of rebuilding more fire-safe structures.
“Homeowners must typically pay out of pocket to upgrade to IBHS+ standards, which are more stringent,” Li said. “The tax waiver could encourage upgrading to IBHS+ standards or investing more in mitigation, thereby reducing future risk and improving the likelihood of maintaining insurance coverage.”
What’s next for the proposal?
The proposed tax relief would not be available to properties that have been sold since the fires started in January 2025.
The motion has been sent to the City Council’s budget and fire recovery committees. If approved by the full council, it would require the city administrative officer, the Office of Finance and the city attorney to report back to the council within 60 days on options for crafting a tax relief plan.
The motion calls for the report to consider factors such as how to minimize the burden of administering the tax relief, what documentation homeowners would have to submit and what it would cost the city to oversee the program.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said in a joint statement on Wednesday that the House will take up a measure passed by the Senate last week to fund most of DHS except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through the end of September. Republicans would then attempt to fund ICE and Border Patrol for three years using a party-line budget reconciliation bill that would not require support from Democrats.
About the deal: The agreement comes nearly a week after House Republicans dismissed an identical plan, refusing to take up the Senate-passed measure and instead passing a 60-day short term funding bill for all of DHS that had little chance of overcoming Democratic opposition in the Senate. Democrats welcomed the agreement as in line with their pledge not to give ICE any more money without reforms after immigration enforcement agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. But the deal does not include any of the policy demands Democrats are pressing for, such as a ban on masks for immigration enforcement officers and requiring warrants issued by a judge, not just the agency, to enter homes.
What's next: Congress is on a two-week recess, but the Senate and House could move to fund all of DHS except ICE and CBP as early as Thursday using a procedure known as unanimous consent that allows the chambers to circumvent formal voting as long as no member objects. Even during a recess when most members are not in Washington, this could be unpredictable, especially in the House, where many hard-line conservatives oppose a deal that does not fully fund DHS. If a member does object, that could require waiting for another vote when all members are back from recess.
Senate and House Republican leadership have resurrected a stalled plan to fund the Department of Homeland Security after a record 47-day funding lapse.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said in a joint statement on Wednesday that the House will take up a measure passed by the Senate last week to fund most of DHS except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through the end of September.
Republicans would then attempt to fund ICE and Border Patrol for three years using a party-line budget reconciliation bill that would not require support from Democrats.
"In following this two-track approach, the Republican Congress will fully reopen the Department, make sure all federal workers are paid, and specifically fund immigration enforcement and border security for the next three years so that those law-enforcement activities can continue uninhibited," Thune and Johnson wrote.
The agreement comes nearly a week after House Republicans dismissed an identical plan, refusing to take up the Senate-passed measure and instead passing a 60-day short term funding bill for all of DHS that had little chance of overcoming Democratic opposition in the Senate.
Johnson called the agreement a "joke" and President Donald Trump declined to publicly endorse the deal. Trump had previously resisted any package that did not include his push to overhaul federal elections known as the Save America Act.
"I think any deal they make, I'm pretty much not happy with it," Trump told reporters last week.
Democrats welcomed the agreement as in line with their pledge not to give ICE any more money without reforms after immigration enforcement agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. But the deal does not include any of the policy demands Democrats are pressing for, such as a ban on masks for immigration enforcement officers and requiring warrants issued by a judge, not just the agency, to enter homes.
"For days, Republican divisions derailed a bipartisan agreement, making American families pay the price for their dysfunction," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote in a statement Wednesday. "Throughout this fight, Senate Democrats never wavered."
Trump seemed to bless the revived plan earlier Wednesday, writing on social media that he wants a party-line bill to fund immigration enforcement on his desk by June 1.
"We are going to work as fast, and as focused, as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE Agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won't be able to stop us," Trump wrote.
Despite the shutdown, ICE has been minimally impacted because Republican lawmakers approved $75 billion for ICE through another party-line budget reconciliation bill last year.
Congress is on a two-week recess, but the Senate and House could move to fund all of DHS except ICE and CBP as early as Thursday using a procedure known as unanimous consent that allows the chambers to circumvent formal voting as long as no member objects.
Even during a recess when most members are not in Washington, this could be unpredictable, especially in the House, where many hard-line conservatives oppose a deal that does not fully fund DHS.
"Let's make this simple: caving to Democrats and not paying CBP and ICE is agreeing to defund Law Enforcement and leaving our borders wide open again," Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, wrote on X. "If that's the vote, I'm a NO."
If a member does object, that could require waiting for another vote when all members are back from recess.
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Logan Cattaneo, 6, poses for a photo with the Dodgers mascot during Dodgers Dreamteam PlayerFest at Dodgers Stadium in 2024.
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Michael Blackshire
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Getty Images
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Topline:
The Dodgers Foundation says it's expanding Dodgers Dreamteam, its program for underserved youth. The foundation says the program will be able to serve 17,000 kids this year, 2,000 more than last year.
Why it matters: Now in its 13th season, the program connects underserved youth with opportunities to play baseball and softball and provides participants with free uniforms and access to baseball equipment. It also offers training for coaches in positive youth development practices, as well as wraparound services for participant families like college workshops, career panels, literacy resources and scholarship opportunities.
How to sign up: For more information and to sign up, click here.
An aerial view of snow-capped trees after a winter snowstorm near Soda Springs on Feb. 20, 2026.
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Stephen Lam, San Francisco Chronicle
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via Getty Images
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Topline:
California clocked its second-worst snowpack on record Wednesday, a potentially troubling signal ahead for fire season. It’s an alarming end to a winter that saw abnormally dry conditions briefly wiped from California’s drought map in January, for the first time in a quarter-century.
What happened? Though precipitation to date has been near average, much of it fell as rain rather than snow. Then March’s record-breaking heat melted most of the snow that remains. The state’s major reservoirs are nevertheless brimming above historic averages and are flirting with capacity, and a smattering of snow, rain and thunderstorms are dousing last month’s heat wave.
Why it matters: Experts now warn that California’s case of the missing snowpack could herald an early fire season in the mountains. State data reports that California’s snowpack is closing out the season at an alarming 18% of average statewide, and an even more abysmal 6% of average in the northern mountains that feed California’s major reservoirs. “I think everyone's anticipating that it will be a long, busy fire season,” said Lenya Quinn-Davidson, director of the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Fire Network.
California clocked its second-worst snowpack on record Wednesday, a potentially troubling signal ahead for fire season.
It’s an alarming end to a winter that saw abnormally dry conditions briefly wiped from California’s drought map in January, for the first time in a quarter-century.
Though precipitation to date has been near average, much of it fell as rain rather than snow. Then March’s record-breaking heat melted most of the snow that remains. The state’s major reservoirs are nevertheless brimming above historic averages and are flirting with capacity, and a smattering of snow, rain and thunderstorms are dousing last month’s heat wave.
But experts now warn that California’s case of the missing snowpack could herald an early fire season in the mountains.
On Wednesday, state engineers conducting the symbolic April 1 snowpack measurement at Phillips Station south of Lake Tahoe found no measurable snow in patches of white dotting the grassy field.
“I want to welcome you call to probably one of the quickest snow surveys we’ve had — maybe one where people could actually use an umbrella,” joked Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources. “We’re getting a lot of questions about are we heading into a hydrologic drought? The answer is, I don’t know.”
Only the extreme drought year of 2015 beat this year’s snowpack for the worst on record, measuring in at just 5% of average on April 1st, when the snow historically is at its deepest.
“I think everyone's anticipating that it will be a long, busy fire season,” said Lenya Quinn-Davidson, director of the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Fire Network.
“Without a snowpack, and with an early spring, it just means that there’s much more time for something like that to happen.”
‘It’s pretty bizarre up here’
In the city of South Lake Tahoe, which survived the massive Caldor Fire in the fall of 2021 without losing any structures, fire chief Jim Drennan said his department is already ramping up prevention efforts.
“It's pretty bizarre up here right now. It really seems like June conditions more than March,” Drennan said. “People are already turning the sprinklers on for their lawns.”
Without more precipitation, an early spring may complicate prescribed burning efforts. But Drennan said fire agencies in the Tahoe basin can start mechanically clearing fuels from forest areas earlier than usual.
“That means we can get more work done,” he said.
It also means homeowners need to start hardening their homes now, said Martin Goldberg, battalion chief and fuels management officer for the Lake Valley Fire Protection District, which protects unincorporated communities in the Lake Tahoe Basin’s south shore.
Goldberg urges residents to scour their yards for burnable materials, create defensible space and reach out to local fire departments with questions. The risks are widespread — from firewood, wooden fences, gas cans, plants, pine needles — even lawn furniture stacked against a house.
“In years past, I wouldn't even think of raking and clearing until May,” Goldberg said. “But my yard's completely cleared of snowpack, and it has been for a couple weeks now.”
‘A haystack fire’
Battalion chief David Acuña, a spokesperson for Cal Fire, said fire season is shaped by more than just one year’s snowpack.
Climate change has been remaking California’s fire seasons into fire years. And California’s recent average to abundant water years have fueled what Acuña called “bumper crops of vegetation and brush.”
“Most of California is like a haystack. And if you’ve ever seen a haystack fire, they burn very intensely because there's layers of fuel,” Acuña said.
Like Quinn-Davidson, Acuña wasn’t ready to make specific predictions about fires to come.
But John Abatzoglou, a professor of climatology at UC Merced, said the temperatures and snowpack conditions this year offer a glimpse of California in the latter decades of this century, as fossil fuel use continues to drive global temperatures higher.
How this year’s fires will play out will depend on when, where and how wind, heat, fuel and ignitions combine. But it foreshadows the consequences of a warmer California for water and fire under climate change.
“This,” Abatzoglou said, “is yet another stress test for the future in the state.”
